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34
shows that even with the constant service the same
difficulties occur, unless the supervision of houses is
vigilant, strict, and constant. At Glasgow, for
example, the waste of water is frightful, and at Manchester,
where the system is said to work so well, the
corporation are frequently obliged to caution the
inhabitants against waste, and to threaten legal proceedings.
In every place, in fact, where the constant
service is in operation, the most stringent rules and
regulations are in force concerning the quality of the
pipes, the description of tap, and the situation and
construction of cisterns and waste water-pipes—over
all of which the Company or local authority supplying
the water, must have absolute control. I
have before me the regulations in force at Norwich,
Sheffield, and Rochdale, which substantially represent
the rules at other places, where the service is constant,
and they are, in my opinion, more severe than
any authority in London could easily put into operation
; for if such power were given to the companies,
it would be thought excessive and arbitrary, and if
confided to the local authority, it would, as elsewhere,
be disregarded. However desirable, therefore,
it may be to change the present intermittent
system of supply in London for a constant service,
the difficulties of the case are so serious as to
require the fullest sanction of the public before it is
attempted.