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180
those Companies which supply river waters have been
most seriously interfered with by dense smoke—
bearing fogs in the early part of the year—and by
heavy floods in the Thames and Lea during the summer
and autumn. In consequence of these unfavourable
conditions, the river-derived waters have often been
in a very undesirable condition, and well-founded
complaints have repeatedly reached him from persons
supplied with these waters. The storage, subsidence,
filtration plant of these Companies who purvey river
water were quite inadequate to deal with the
exceptional pollution; and water of such bad quality,
as regards organic matter in solution, has rarely been
delivered by these Companies during the last 26 years.
There appeared to have been no abnormal amount of
sewage contamination in the river waters, the great
additional amount of organic matter being derived
from vegetable sources. Nevertheless, the water at
the times of maximum pollution was, by reason of
excessive quantity of organic and of clay in suspension,
in some cases repulsive to both eye and palate.
All the samples examined were taken directly from
the mains of the several Companies. In addition to
the chemical analysis to which each sample was submitted,
the temperature of the water as it issued from
the main, at the time of its collection, was determined,
and the appearance which it exhibited 011 being viewed
in a two-foot tube recorded.