54 On the future Water-supply of London. [Jan., 



number of reservoirs to be constructed in districts where the land is 

 valuable would be necessary in addition to those now in existence 

 in, and around, London. The expense of superintendence at each 

 pumping station would be both large and permanent ; but another 

 objection, and one which is urged against the present supply, would 

 apply even with greater force to the one here referred to, — the water 

 would certainly be "hard," as it would be derived entirely from 

 calcareous deposits. An idea of the quality of such water may be 

 gathered from that of the well at Thames head, pumped for the 

 supply of the Gloucester Canal, which on analysis was found to 

 contain 18 grains per gallon of solid matter, of which 4 grains were 

 organic* 



Having thus sketched out the general features and pointed out 

 the advantages and some of the disadvantages of one plan for the 

 future supply of the Metropolis — of the possibility of which there 

 can be no question — and which amongst other advantages has that 

 of being in proximity to the centre of demand, we propose now to 

 consider the two great schemes which have been elaborated by Mr. 

 Bateman on the one hand, and Messrs. Hemans and Hassard on the 

 other. 



Mr. Bateman has the advantage of having been first in the field, 

 for his proposal was published in November of last year, while that 

 of his rivals is dated 1866 ; we may also add that the former bears 

 marks of more careful elaboration than the latter, and is accompanied 

 by more detailed information. 



The authors of both schemes naturally commence by stating the 

 growing objections to a continuance of the present sources of 

 supply ; Mr. Bateman, however, laying more stress on the subject 

 of hardness, on the ground, first, that soft water is economical, and 

 secondly, that the use of hard water is productive of many diseases 

 of a painful character, which are entirely absent in communities 

 where the soft waters of the Millstone Grit and the primitive for- 

 mations are used; and he assures us, on estimates which were 

 calculated in the introduction of the Loch Katrine water into Glasgow, 

 that the saving to the inhabitants of London by the substitution of 

 water as pure as that now supplied to Glasgow would not be less 

 than 400,000?. per annum in the use of soap, soda, tea, coffee, and 

 chemical substances. 



As the engineer of the Glasgow and Manchester "Waterworks, 

 Mr. Bateman, with reasonable partiality, compares the cases of 

 these towns with that of London, in which the proportions in the 

 matter of hardness alone are as 1° to 12° or 16° in the former 

 instance, and 1° to 5° or 8° in the latter, according to Dr. Clarke's 



* Analysis by Mr. Horsley, County of Gloucester analyst, given in Appendix 

 B to Dr Wright's ' Eeport on the Water-supply of Cheltenham,' 1863. The 

 water is pumped from the Great Oolite formation, 



