394 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Decembek, 



I would here remark, that an erroneous opinion seems to prevail generally 

 that large bodies of water should be examined for test of quality, which, in 

 proportion to their size alone, show a scale of hardness contracted in their 

 passage through loamv or other soils. Hitherto the little springs rising in 

 pure sands, scarcely seen under the herbage, have been almost entirely dis- 

 regarded, although when gathered together they form a volume equal in 

 extent to that collected on'the lower levels, and of a purity and softness in 

 no case to be found there. 



The gaugings of these springs having been taken at the end of a drought 

 of nearlv five weeks, and at the close of an average dry summer, 1 conceive 

 they are' to be relied on with safety, as being at their usual summer ebb. 

 Being a perfect stranger to the district, and of course obliged to depend 

 very much on the testimony of the residents as lo the flow of the springs, 

 I have addressed mvself to persons of all classes, gentry, farmers, and 

 labourers, manv of w'hom have resided all their lives on the same spot, and 

 are therefore w'ell able to offer an opinion. I received much valuable infor- 

 mation from an herb doctor, who devotes his sole attention to wounds and 

 sores, and finds his remedies in herbs and grasses, many of which grow in 

 water, by which means he had come to the knowledge of these springs. 

 The unanimous opinion of all observing persons is, that I gauged these 

 springs at their lowest. I am convinced that the greater mass of tlicm are, 

 as at Farnham-hill, due to rain-fall elsewhere, probably on ranges of equal 

 and higher levels, at a considerable distance, where the nature of the strata 

 will not permit of the rain-fall making its appearance again after percolation; 

 the water then finds its levc-l, and an easy channel through the sands of the 

 gathering grounds. I attribute the fact of tbe springs invariably coming out 

 under the highest and steepest bank of the hills to the circumstance, that 

 such is the only place where on that contour there is not the usual densely- 

 packed covering of gravel, through which they would scarcely penetrate 

 when there is an easier outlet. The steepness of tbe hank itself is apparently 

 caused by the undermining action of the springs. 



My opinion of the unfailing yield of these springs is confirmed by the pea- 

 sants, who in several instances have of their own accord informed me that 

 at the close of autumn, generally in October, when there has been no rain 

 in this district, the springs commence rising just after a high wind. They 

 offer no explanation of this apparently extraordinary circumstance, which 

 to me, however, admits of easy explanation ; the high wind being possibly 

 a fortuitous circumstance, but 'probably indicating a storm of rain and wind 

 elsewhere, where the strata are of the formation alluded to. 



Droughts of much longer duration than five weeks seldom occur, and, 

 should they do so, the yield of the springs is so far in excess of the present 

 requirements of the metropolis, that there is little foundation for any appre- 

 hension of scarcity. 



To detect tbe presence of these springs in combination with other waters 

 was in some cases very easy, as where tbe residents are acquainted with 

 them, or where they are so large as to thrust themselves on one's view ; hut 

 often thev have nearlv eluded ray most vigilant scrutiny. Situated in the 

 hollows o'f the hills, g'encrally collections of rainwater are to be found, girt 

 sometimes bv dense copses wi'th rushes and long-tangled grass. The marshy 

 appearance of the ground on the lower side might, by a casual observer, be 

 taken for tbe soakage of the pond ; but if a trench be dug to the outfall the 

 run is found to be constant, proving tbe presence of springs flowing into or 

 rising in the ponds themselves. On one occasion, on questioning an intelli- 

 gent labourer, he remarked that, when bathing in Minley-pond, he found the 

 water at some parts much colder than others, and was at a loss to account 

 for the circumstance, which clearly indicated the position of the springs, as 

 1 found tbe outfall to exceed the flow into tbe pond. 



So secluded are some of these sources, that their existence on one occa- 

 sion, at Chapel-copse, only became known to a soi-disant gamekeeper (but, 

 from his appearance, I fear, a poacher occasionally), by the flight of game to 

 drink there after dawn. This spring yields 224,697 gallons per day, equal 

 to the supply of 299.') houses, and forms one of the many threads contribut- 

 ing to the desired supply. I am further of opinion, in which I am con- 

 firmed by all the residents, that these springs will, when opened— that is, 

 given a free passage to the surface, often be doubled in volume ; indeed, this 

 has, on several occasions, been proved to be the case by paper manufacturers 

 and others who have been anxious to increase their supply; as, for instance, 

 at Barford Mills, where some years ago the paper-mill could only work for 

 three or four hours a-day, but the spring having been opened now affords a 

 sufficient supply for six hours' work. I have tested these waters, and all 

 others in tbe district, including wells, and those from the surface, at different 

 stages, as where joined by fresh tributaries, or entering a new soil, from 

 their outfall to their sources, and tbe result has been very decisive in con- 

 firming tbe remark made by Professor Way, in his able paper on The Power 

 of ioils lo absorb Manure, 'that ordinary soils consist of three substances, 

 sand, clay, and vegetable matter, but tliat very generally a fourth may be 

 added, carbonate of Ume.' When these springs rise in any other than pure 

 sands, the water at once becomes hard to five or six degrees. If in any case 

 I believed a stream to have a very pure source, I proceeded up its course, 

 examining it at the junction of each tributary, and have never failed in 

 discovering at length, and generally from the highest source, the thread 

 of soft and sweet water to be added to the growing stream for water 

 supply. 



Let me point out the following, for example,— 



The Wey, at Guildford, which has a hardness of 



.\t Elstead 



Below the junction of the iJramshot river 



Above the junction of the Farnbam branch .. 



Above the junction on the Bramshot branch 



At Farnhara 



Bat turning up the Bramshot river at Ileadley Wood 



At Bramshot 



At Siiotter Mill 



Decrees. 



,. 9 



.. 8 



.. 9 



.. 6 



.. 14 



.. 15 



.. 5 



.. i; 



•• •• i 



The above shows what different results two persons making the same in- 

 vestigations might arrive at. From Headley-wood to Bramshot is scarcely 

 more than two miles; persons unintentionally, or for want of accurate in- 

 vestigation, might consider tbe water at Headley-wood the sample of greatest 

 purity to be found, and go away with and disseminate a totally false impres- 

 sion. I have reason to believe it will he generally found that the opponents 

 to the Board's proposition have, from one cause or the other, made this 

 great mistake. 



The power of soils in hardening water is particularly evident when com- 

 paring the water in a large pond to that in a well, which becomes hard 

 almost in proportion to its depth. \ notable instance occurs at Tomlin's 

 Pond, a collection of rain water with a few small springs in it, which has a 

 hardness of only 2 degrees ; whereas, a well sunk close by for the conveni- 

 ence of some cottagers has a hardness of b\ degrees, .\gain, Minley Pond 

 has a hardness of only li degrees, while a well, sunk through tbe loam into 

 the pure sand, has 3 degrees of hardness. 



Tbe following is a list of well and surface waters, with their degrees of 



hardness: — 



JFelk. 



De^ecs. 

 .. 4i 



3i 

 24 



li 

 H 



Hartford-bridge Flats, 25 feet deep 



Ash-common, 80 feet deep 



Pirbright-common, 20 feet deep . . 



ChobhamWell 



Swinley-cottage, Easthampstead-plain 



Surface Waters. 



Ash-Common 



Holt-pond 



Dippenhall 



Whitemoor 



Aldershot 



Canal, Reading-road bridge 



Thus we see that waters stand for purity in this district in the following 



order:— 1. Springs issumg from pure sands.— 2. Collections of rain water. 



3. Water running through ordinary loamy soils. — 1. Well waters. 



How creat is the loss of capital and labour expended on wells, which 

 when ma'de, what has been done .= A vast expense is incurred to dig a hole 

 in the ground to allow water to soak into impure from the mineral qualities 

 of tbe soil; what water?— that which fell originally soft and pure, and 

 which inii^ht have been collected on roofs, or by drainage of cultivated 

 lands andled into a covered reservoir, and thence to the highest room m 

 the bouse. One gentleman with whom I am acquainted spent from 300/. to 

 400/ in sinking a well 300 feet deep, whence he obtained water of a hard- 

 ness equal to that of London. 400/. would have drained from 40 to 50 

 acres of bis land and paid for a covered reservoir, besides saving the labour 

 of pumping and carrying, the waste of the latter in the case of using ib 

 »allons per day per house, amounting to a loss of three days' labour of one 

 person in a week. The improvement of the land drained would alone have 



repaid the outlay. , , . , ,, 



A great economy in having water laid on to the top of a bouse exists 

 from the indolent propensities of servants. Should there be two supplies, 

 one of soft water, and another of hard nearer the premises, the servants 

 will, I have frequently found, to save trouble, use the latter for all purposes, 

 thus extravagantly wastinff their masters' tea and soap ; the saving in the 

 consumption of which with soft water would soon have paid the cost of 

 laving pipes into every part of the house. 



'l would point out the defects of storage reservoirs on gathering grounds as 

 now existing in some parts of this country. They collect the crude surface 

 waters, always liable to discolouration and thickening from dirt brought in by 

 heavy rains, to deterioration in taste, to hardness from contact with tbe sod, as 

 also by evaporation; this last, however, being trifling as compared with the 

 first as we have already shown. Compare these results with the proposition 

 of the Board. After the around is once saturated, the rain-faU passes imme- 

 diately through a naturalfilter of sand into the drainage pipes, which lead 

 it awa'v to storage reservoirs lined with tiles to prevent the water acquiring 

 the mineral qualities of the soil, hence to a covered reservoir in the neigh- 

 bourbod of its distribution, safe from the noxious influence of the impure 

 atmosphere of a city. The importance of covered reservoirs cannot be over- 

 rated when the evidence given by several eminent professors of chymistry 

 before the Board is considered, although little more than every day s expert- 

 ence is needed to show that what is disagreeable on a small scale must be 

 very detrimental, often dangerous, in larger volumes of water. A tumbler 

 1 of 'water cannot be exposed half an hour without becoming warm, vapid, 



