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36
As an example :*"Calling the amount of this
impurity in a given volume of the Kent Company
water 1, the proportional amount in an equal
volume of water supplied this month by each of
the other Metropolitan Companies was—New
River,5.3; East London, 8.3; West Middlesex, 11.1;
Southwark, 14; Grand Junction, 16.1; Chelsea,17;
and Lambeth, 18 4. A sample of London Sewage
which was allowed to soak through 5-feet of dry
earth, was found to contain a smaller proportion of
organic elements than that present in some of the
samples of drinking water. Of 50 shallow wells,
which have been condemned as unfit for human
consumption, the water of only 10 contained a
larger proportion of organic elements than that
present in the supply of the Grand Junction,
Chelsea and Lambeth Companies."
The objectionable impurity referred to in these
waters is the organic matter, called its "previous
sewage contamination," and "the presence of living
or moving organismsand I may add that "some of
the waters were turbid, or of a brownish yellow
colour." All this it, must be confessed amounts to a
grave charge, and it will be difficult to explain
satisfactorily all the objections.
Water Supply of Paddington.
The Water Supply of this Parish is derived from
the Thames—a small part being furnished by the
West Middlesex, and the remainder by the Grand
Junction Company.
* Dr. Frankland\s Report, Jan. 27, 1872.