29 



It shows (pages 11 to 13) that the Lea, from which 

 water ybr the domestic use of a large portion of London is 

 taken, is polluted from Luton (close to its source) to West 

 Ham, near Blackwall (where its mouth is), by all the 

 towns and places on it, by the sewage of Lutoti, number- 

 ing 20,000 inhabitants and upwards, and by its manufac- 

 turing refuse (from the preparation of straw plait), 

 composed of large quantities of metallic salts, dye stuffs, 

 brimstone, &c., and in some cases poiso7ious materials, 

 by the sewage of Hatfield, which, though not discharged 

 directly into the river, the Commissioners say finds its way 

 there, by the sewage of Whitwell and Welwyn, where it is 

 also polluted by arsenic which comes from the wool of 

 sheep when they are washed, and which has been retained 

 in their wool since the previous " dipping," in which 

 process arsenic is used ; by the sewage of Hertford, 

 which, though passing into the river in a mitigated form, 

 is a constant source of complaint to Ware, situate below ; 

 by the sewage of Ware itself; and by the sewage respec- 

 tively of Bishopstortford {via a tributary of the Lea), Hod- 

 desdotiy Broxhourne, Cheshunt, Walth am Abbey , Waltham 

 Cross, and Enfield- Hi gJno ay. All the ioxe^oxng pollution 

 taking place above the intake of the East London Water 

 Company. Below the intake, the report states, the Lea 

 receives the sewage (unmitigated by any process what- 

 ever) of Enfield, Edmojiton, Hornsey, Chipping Barnet, 

 East Barnet, and Hadley, and also of Ley ton, Leijton- 

 stone, Walthamstow, and West Ham, whose population 

 ( West Ham) alone at the last census was 22,337. The re- 

 port adds that this pollution of sewage was much on the 

 increase, that the river at Old Ford was rendered very pes- 

 tiferous during hot weather by impurities from chemical 

 and other works, and that the district bordering on the tidal " 

 portion of the Lea has become a nuisance district, the seat 

 of trades expelled from the better parts of the metropolis. 



The Commissioners, after condemning the East London 



