ON THE SUPPLY OP WATER TO TOWNS. 65 



the aqueduct of about forty miles. For this object the Corporation of London 

 obtained Parliamentary powers in 1606, and, after some delay, transferred 

 their powers to Sir Hugh, then Mr. Hugh Myddelton, in 1609. In the year 

 1613 the original works were completed, and the water introduced into a 

 reservoir for the supply of the city, at an elevation of about 84 feet above 

 high water in the Thames ; from which time the New River Works, as they 

 were then, and have since been called, have largely contributed to the benefit 

 of the city by supplying a large portion of its inhabitants with an abundant 

 quantity of water for all their domestic wants. The original cost of the 

 works is estimated to have been between £200,000 and £300,000; but the 

 quantity of water which was first introduced I have not been able to ascer- 

 tain. It soon, however, proved insufficient, and recourse was had to the river 

 Lea. Additions to the supply have since been made in various ways from 

 various sources, and at different times, until the supply afforded by the New 

 River Water Company now amounts to about 18,000,000 gallons per day, 

 which is delivered to about 500,000 persons. 



It is not my intention to follow the history of the London water-works. I 

 have thus briefly drawn attention to the first pumping and first gravitation 

 schemes of magnitude in this country, for the purpose of marking the period 

 of the earliest important undertakings, and of exhibiting the progressive 

 development of works of this nature. 



The invention of the steam-engine, and its application to the water supply 

 of towns, towards the close of the last century, and the substitution of iron 

 pipes for wooden ones, which does not appear to have taken place till about 

 the year 1810, led to great extension in the quantity of water supplied, and 

 to many improvements in the mode of conducting it through the streets, and 

 introducing it into the houses of the consumers. 



London is now supplied with water by nine different Water Companies, 

 who jointly deliver about 4'4',000,000 gallons of water per day, and derive a 

 revenue of about £236,000 a year. The water is principally derived from 

 the river Thames or the river Lea, or brought in by the New River Com- 

 pany, and, according to the evidence given before the Committee on the 

 Metropolis Water Bill in 1851, the steam-engines employed in raising or 

 forcing water amounted at that time to a combined power of 3372 horses. 



The different sources from whence a town can derive a supply of water, 

 beyond that which the inhabitants can collect in cisterns from rain, or pro- 

 cure by wells on their own premises, may be classed as follows : — 



1. From springs. 



2. From Artesian wells, or from the water to be obtained from absorbent 



geological strata. 



3. From rivers. 



4. From gathering grounds, where the surplus water of wet seasons is 

 collected into large storeage reservoirs. And 



5. From natural lakes. 



1. From springs. — Where spring-water can be procured in sufficient 

 quantity and of a quality suitable for domestic requirements, nothing can 

 exceed, nor perhaps equal, this source of supply. Bright and sparkling, free 

 from all vegetable contamination, and deliciously cool, the very idea of 

 spring-water is refreshing to the senses; but it seldom happens that it can be 

 procured conveniently in considerable volume, nor is it always the most suit- 

 able for domestic use. The water, from its solvent action on the rocks with 

 which it comes in contact in passing through different geological strata, 

 frequently undergoes material change between the time of its first resting on 



1855. F 



