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6
sewage from the Kingston Sewage Works, where there is
ample room to treat the whole sewage of the district for many
years to come, and to treat their sewage at Tolworth, discharging
the whole of their effluent into the Hogg's Mill stream.
The estimated volume is one million gallons daily, but it must
soon exceed that amount, and judging from the class of
property now being erected at the south end of Surbiton and
the constantly increasing use of baths, the volume is likely
to amount in a very few years to nearly 3,000,000 gallons.
At the present rate of building, Maiden will soon be putting in
2,000,000 gallons, and Epsom and Ewell must be credited
with a like amount. This will mean that the flow of the
stream will be doubled, and as it must be remembered that
the flow from sewage works is greater at certain times of the
day than at others, it is possible that quite sufficient extra
volume might be added at a critical moment to cause a flood
that would otherwise be avoided. Owing to the tortuous
course of the stream through the Maiden meadows the water
accumulates on the low-lying ground. Then, if a sudden
heavy rainfall comes on, the water comes down with a rush
into the town, and if the course of the stream were not hampered
by mill dams, etc., it would run away quickly into the Thames.
A specially bad obstruction is the brick arch carrying water
mains (late Chelsea Co.). When the water rises to the crown
of this arch its passage is blocked and the water floods the
houses in Fairfield Place. If the volume of effluent is
increased, it is clear that in flood time the addition of a few
million gallons will cause a flood which would otherwise be
avoided, and it is surely reasonable to call on the authorities
contributing to this nuisance to so regulate the course of the
stream that it will not become an intolerable nuisance to this
town. The stream has always been a great trouble to us, and
if the sewage effluents of these growing townships are to be
allowed to be discharged to an amount that will double the
flow of the river it will constitute a grave public danger.
As regards Surbiton and Maiden the whole of the sewage
from these districts could be treated on the present works at
Kingston with both efficiency and economy.