Horizontal wells : a new application of geological principles to effect the solution of the problem of supplying London with pure water / by J. Lucas.

  • Lucas, J.
Date:
1874
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Horizontal wells : a new application of geological principles to effect the solution of the problem of supplying London with pure water / by J. Lucas. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the Companies’ works, at a time when the water was rendered more foul than usual by heavy floods. ‘ Mr. Frank Bolton, the water examiner, appointed under the “ Me- tropolis Water Act, 1871,” in a letter to the Board of Trade, thus alludes to the result of the chemical analysis by Dr. Frankland of the water supplied to the Metropolis during the month of January 1872, contained in the weekly return of the Registrar-General ‘ Doubtless the organic elements are in the water, but the organic matter is so changed into harmless inorganic compounds, that it becomes a question whether it can in any way be considered as preju- dicial to the quality of useable water.’1 The Pall Mall adds, ‘ Whether this expression of opinion will reconcile people to drinking organic elements remains to be seen ; but beyond the question of the quality of the water supplied to us remains that of cost; and even if the Companies clear themselves of the charge of homicide, they still have to deal .with that of extortion. Under present arrangements only the wealthy can afford to be teetotalers, and total abstinence is a luxury far beyond the reach of the poor.’2 This notice indicates the low opinion in which the water supplied by the Companies was held early in last year. Again, on April 16, we find evidence of the same feeling. An article appeared in the Times containing the following passage : —‘As long as they (the said Companies) are content with their present intake, it is not likely that their filter-beds will ever be fairly abreast of the demands upon them.’ The Lambeth Waterworks Company were then proceeding with works for securing water from above the confluence of the Mole, with a view to avoiding the water of that river, a step towards which they were urged by the necessities of the case. This, with numerous other cases, may be cited to show that the Com- panies have not the power to refuse to provide a better supply of water as from time to time required. At a Meeting of the Metropolitan Board of Works (reported in the Times, May nth, 1872), great dissatisfaction was expressed at the mode proposed by the Companies for providing a constant supply. The ‘ con- stant supply,’ as given by the Companies, was denounced as a farce; and it was shown that not more than two gallons could be obtained in fifteen minutes under the system then in use. The delivery pipe or aperture was so small as not to admit a stocking-needle. In a letter to the Times, of June 3rd, Dr. Frankland, replying to 1 The Times, March 9, 1872. 2 Pall Mall Gazette, March 11, 1872.