DESCRIPTION OF A 
TYPICAL QUEENSLAND LAGOON, 
(THe Enoccera RESERVOIR, NEAR BrisBaNe) 
Wirn Merruops oF RENDERING THE WATER FIT FOR A 
Town Suppty. 
By HARDOLPH WASTENEYS, 
Anatyst to BrigsBpANE Boarp oF WATERWORKS. 
Read before the Royal Society of Queensland, 5th August, 1905. 
BEFORE commencing this paper and in order to prevent 
misunderstanding, I would like to state that I claim to be 
neither a Biologist—in the sense in which the term is used in 
connection with water—nor yet a Bacteriologist, consequently, 
in the descriptions and lists of the biological contents of the 
water which accompany this paper I have confined myself 
to the enumeration of the genera only, as the determination 
of the species is, as all know, a task which may only be success- 
fully accomplished by experts who have made a life study 
of the subject. Similarly, in the department of Bacteriology, 
I have confined myself entirely to quantitative estimations. 
The lagoon: under consideration, which is situated near 
Brisbane, is an artificial one, and was formed by throwing 
an embankment across the bed of a creek, the upper waters 
of which it receives. It has been in existence for nearly 
forty years. Its watershed has an area of 8,295 acres, for 
the most part heavily timbered, and covered in some places 
with fairly dense undergrowth. 
The catchment area is not fenced, but the lagoon itself 
is surrounded by a fence placed at a distance of 1 chain from 
the water’s edge. There are practically no human habita- 
tions on the watershed, but cattle roam all over it at will. 
H 
