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132
Water.
A remarkably small rainfall during the year 1887
occasioned in many parts of the country great
difficulties in maintaining an abundant supply of
water, and necessitated in several large provincial
towns its limitation to an inconvenient extent in order
to obviate the greater calamity of a water-famine. In
London the supply throughout the year was fortunately
as abundant as usual, and no extra precautionary
measures to prevent the daily waste or to
limit its consumption were adopted except in the East
London Company's district, in which it was for a time
necessary to discontinue the constant supply. The
average daily quantity of water delivered by the
London Companies during the year 1887 was
163,735,855 gallons, of which about 134,263,401
gallons were probably used for domestic purposes.
The average quantity used daily for domestic purposes
in each house was 185 gallons, corresponding to 23.7
gallons by each person. Of the total quantity
83,809,838 gallons were taken from the Thames, and
79,926,017 from the Lea and from other sources.
Owing to the exceptionally small rainfall the Thames
and the Lea were during the year unusually free from
floods, and consequently the water taken from them
contained but little impurity either in solution or
suspension, and was clear and bright, thus maintaining