L. J. M. SMAIL. 



by scraping, and is about to be refilled, the sand below the 

 surface, as far as it is discoloured, should be removed before 

 bringing on the new sand. 



16. Every city in the German Empire using sand-filtered 

 water, is required to make a quarterly report of its working 

 results, especially of the bacterial character of the water 

 before and after filtration, to the Imperial Board of Health. 



17. The question as to the establishment of a permanent 

 inspection of public waterworks, and if so, under what con- 

 ditions, will be best decided after such quarterly reports 

 have been furnished over some period of time. 



* * * 



Filtration op Water at the Hunter District Water 



Works, West Maitland. 



By J. B. HBNSON, Assoc. If. Inst. C.E. 



The water for the supply of the inhabitants of the district 

 controlled by the Hunter District Water Supply and Sewer- 

 age Board, is taken from the Hunter river at a point about 

 1^> miles up stream from the town of West Maitland. The 

 area of the watershed of the Hunter river, above the water 

 works intake, is about 7,090 square miles, the population 

 settled thereon numbers approximately 30,000, and large 

 numbers of cattle, sheep, horses, etc., are depastured on 

 tlie catchment area. The Board have control of the river, 

 for the prevention of pollution, for a distance of 20 miles 

 up stream from the intake. Within this limit the country 

 abutting on the river is occupied for agricultural and 

 pastoral purposes, and there is no concentration of popula- 

 tion in villages or towns. Higher up stream, however, 

 there are some populous towns — Singleton, Muswellbrook, 

 Aberdeen, and others — situated on the banks of the river. 



The river water varies very much in quality, between 

 the extremes of a perfectly clear hard water in dry seasons 

 and a turbid comparatively soft water in wet seasons. The 



