422 Original Articles. [July, 



Several wells have been successfully sunk near Birkenhead, one 

 under the direction of Mr. J. Cunningham, for the Wirral Water 

 Works Company, capable of yielding 2,000,000 gallons a day ; others 

 by Mr. F. Bateman, C.E., of which one at Flay brick Hill, though 

 still incomplete, yields 800,000 gallons. 



At Nottingham, several wells for the supply of the town have 

 recently been sunk under the direction of Mr. Hawksley, from 

 which the supply is very large. The rock is there in the form of a 

 slightly consolidated conglomerate, and hence extremely porous. One 

 of the wells yields 3,000,000 gallons per day, another 2,880,000 

 gallons, and the supply from a third cannot be tested, owing to the 

 fact that the inflow of the water is too great for the engines to make 

 head against. 



At Birmingham, out of 7,000,000 gallons supplied by the Com- 

 pany, 2,000,000 are derived from wells which will be very largely 

 augmented on the completion of the works now contemplated, and 

 which include the sinking of four new wells. There are also several 

 large private wells in operation. These instances will probably be 

 considered sufficient as regards wells ; my last illustration will be 

 that of a natural spring rising from the same formation. 



The town of Leek, in Staffordshire, stands on a tongue of New 

 Bed conglomerate, lying in a valley bounded by hills of millstone 

 grit. A short distance to the south of the town, the Wall Grange 

 springs burst forth at the foot of a knowl of New Bed Sandstone, 

 from which all the Fottery towns, except Longton, Fenton, and Stoke, 

 are supplied. The position of the well is shown in Fig. 1, 



FLanlisoj 

 LadderEdge Wall Grange Morridge 



Reservoir S P T , m 3 



Fig. 1. — Section across Wall Grange Spring, near Leek. 



These springs are estimated by Mr. Elliot, the engineer, to yield 

 3,000,000 gallons daily. The water is pumped up 287 feet by power- 

 ful engines into Ladderedge Beservoir, and hence distributed to the 

 towns. The springs are uninfluenced by the seasons, and have sup- 

 plied the towns since 1849. By two analyses made at different times, 

 it has been found that the water contains from 8*70 to 12-26 grains of 

 foreign matter per gallon.* 



The porosity of the New Bed Sandstone — owing to which water 

 is able to percolate from long distances, is illustrated by the pre- 

 ceding examples. As only a small proportion of the rain which falls 

 on its surface, varying from one-third to one-fourth, finds its way into 

 the rock, it is evident that in order for a single weU or spring to 

 yield 3,000,000 of gallons a day, the supply must be drawn from con- 



* ' C4eology of Leek.' By T. Wardle, F.G.S. 



