1865.] Hull on Water Supply from New Red Sandstone. 425 



rier to the passage of water, and a very great blessing to the miners. 

 Faults in the New Eed Sandstone, hundreds of which the writer has 

 examined over the Central Counties, cannot therefore be regarded as 

 impervious to water, because the material with which they are filled 

 in is not itself impervious. It is not improbable, however, that they 

 tend to retard the flow of the water in a transverse direction ; but on 

 the other hand, they act as channels, and ducts, to guide it longitudi- 

 nally. Hence the writer would (ceteris paribus) always recommend 

 the line of a fault as the best site for a well, as it is certain to draw 

 from a long distance. The effect of a fault in suddenly increasing the 

 supply when driven into underground was illustrated in the case of 

 the well at Flaybrick Hill, near Birkenhead. Mr. Bateman, the 

 engineer, recently stated* that in driving a tunnel from the bottom of 

 the well, they struck upon a fault of several feet in width, when 

 the supply, which had only been 400,000 gallons per day, was 

 suddenly doubled. What will be the effect of cutting through one or 

 more of such faults in tunnelling under the bed of the Mersey, is 

 a matter which is exciting much controversy between the promoters 

 and opponents of the Eailway Tunnel scheme ; but that the former 

 contemplate in any case a very large influx of water from the bed of 

 the river may be concluded from the fact that they are preparing 

 pumping powers for twelve millions of gallons per day. The project, 

 however, is now in abeyance. 



Quality of the Water. — We now come to the last and not least im- 

 portant question, the quality of the water from the New Eed Sand- 

 stone, as ascertained by experience. It is but fair to say that on this 

 point much variety of opinion exists, as there are different views as to 

 what constitutes " hard " and " soft " water, and as the water itself is 

 somewhat variable. That it is pleasant, and sparkling, and good for 

 drinking, none will be disposed to deny ; and, as regards hardness, it is 

 certainly not as soft as the water from Lough Katrine, while it is softer 

 than that generally drawn from wells in the Chalk formation. 



In Manchester, Stockport, and other places in the North of Eng- 

 land, the waters from wells in the New Eed Sandstone and Permian 

 formations are extensively employed in brewing, bleaching, and dyeing ; 

 and though salts of iron, lime, and magnesia exist in almost all cases, 

 we are only aware of one solitary instance where the water proved 

 unfit for use by the excess of any of these salts. f The case alluded to 

 occurred at Ordsall, near Manchester, and is, we think, the result of 

 exceptional causes capable of explanation. On the other hand, a well 

 in the same formation at Parkside, on the London and North- Western 

 Eailway, produces water of such purity, that Mr. Eamsbottom declared 

 to the writer that it was the purest water for the supply of locomotive 

 engines on the whole of the railway system. 



The terms "hard" and "soft" are often used in a sense that is 

 vague and unsatisfactory, but adopting the views of Dr. Clark, that it 

 is the presence or absence of salts of lime and magnesia that constitutes 



* Before the Parliamentary Keferees on the Mersey Tunnel Bill, 1S65. 



t It need hardly be mentioned that our remarks exclude all notice of the water 

 derived from the New Red Marl, the upper division of the Trias from which the 

 principal supply of salt and brine is derived. 



