TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 175 
The Newcastle and Gateshead Water- Works. By D. D. Mary. 
The Newcastle and Gateshead Water-Works, as originally constructed in 1848, 
consisted of five large reservoirs formed in the valley of Whittle Burn, about twelve 
miles north-west of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The drainage-area was about 4340 
acres, the capacity of the reservoirs 215,000,000 gallons, and the pipe to convey 
the water to Newcastle was two feet in diameter, and capable of carrying from four 
and a half to five million gallons per day. The amount of rainfall was ascertained 
to be twenty-four inches per annum; and it was assumed that as, in a district of 
an ordinary character, one-third of the rainfall finds its way iato the rivers, in a 
peculiar locality like Whittle Dean, where the declivities were rapid, the ground 
impervious, and vegetation scanty, the proportion of water which would be carried 
off by the natural channels of the country could not be taken at less than one- 
half. Twelve inches of rain over an area of 4540 acres would have produced 
3,250,000 gallons per day; and as the coasumption was then only 700,000 gallons 
per day, and the reservoirs were laid out to contain ten months’ supply, it did 
appear to the promoters that the works were of sufficient magnitude for many 
years to come, and that ample provision had been made against the longest drought 
ever likely to happen. The works were brought into operation in October 1848, 
and were found sufficient until the year 1850. The consumption had in the mean- 
time increased to one and a half million gallons per day, and the number of persons 
supplied with water from 10,275 in 1845 to 62,740 at the end of 1849. The reservoirs 
could then only hold a supply for about five months. Im the middle of February 
1850 a drought commenced, which lasted till the end of October, during which the 
stored water went continually down; and the company were obliged before the end 
of summer to have recourse to the works which they had purchased of the pre- 
vious company, and to pump from the river Tyne in aid of the supply from the 
reservoirs. It was found that, instead of the rainfall being 24 inches that year, it 
was only 17-68 inches ; and instead of the available quantity being 12 inches, the 
water actually impounded only amounted to 6} inches, But it was also disco- 
vered that the rain available for water-works falls almost entirely in the winter 
months, and that to take full advantage of the collecting-ground the reservoirs 
should be of such magnitude as to impound all that falls, it being unsafe to depend 
on the summer rains, which, unless they are heavy and continued, are quickly 
absorbed by the land. After very dry weather it is not unusual for rain to fall to 
the depth of an inch, and none find its way to the streams. But in a district like 
this, where the rainfall is so limited, and droughts extending to six and eight months 
are of frequent occurrence, even great storage-capacity is not to be relied on. The 
original capital of the company, £200,000, has since been more than doubled; the 
reservoir-storage has been increased from 215 to 530 million gallons, and the 
drainage-area from 4340 to.17,300 acres. In the last Session of Parliament power 
was obtained to supply the water of the River Tyne for manufacturing purposes, 
and to construct a large impounding reservoir of 500 to 600 million gallons, gaug- 
ings having been previously taken which showed that in ordinary years_that 
additional quantity could be obtained from the company’s present streams. When 
the company commenced operations in 1845, the quantity consumed was 700,000 
gallons per day, and the system of supply intermittent and irregular; but in their 
first Act of Parliament they voluntarily bound themselves to give constant service 
and unlimited supply. At that time the lowest rate for water was ten shilings per 
annum, a scale of charge which prohibited the poor from having it in their houses 
at all; and the custom was to carry it from the street pants or fountains, where it 
was retailed at a farthing per skeel of three gallons. By the present company 
these pants were gradually abolished; the charge to a poor person occupying a 
single room was fixed at five shillings per annum, and where houses were let in 
several tenements, which is the case to a great extent in this town, and the tenants 
could be supplied at one common tap, the company was at the entire expense of 
the exterior and interior pipes and fittings. By these measures the supply was 
greatly extended; and the company may now be said to supply the whole popu- 
lation where their pipes are laid, amounting to about 165,000. The gross daily 
supply is 4,700,000, or about 28 gallons per head, one-fourth of which is consumed by 
railways, manufactories, and for trade purposes generally, leaving 21 gallons per 
