S42 
What is the Effect of Iron Pipes on Water f [Nov, 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine, 
MR, 
OiM P ETITION seldom proves oiher- 
wise tfi'.ui beneficial to the public, 
tlunigli, by jiiteriering with the profits 
of individuals, it often draws upon itself 
the enmitv of those who, from having 
lonii enjoyed the monopoly of a lucrativ e 
concern, are accustomed to look with an 
eye of extreme jealousy upon every plan 
likely to encroach in the slightest degree 
upnn their long-enjoyed probes; and every 
measure, by which a monopoly of any 
description is likely to be abolished, 
should always furnish an object of con¬ 
gratulation to the public: with pleasure, 
therefore, must the inhabitants of this 
immense city behold the rapid p.mgress 
which the West Midrliesex Water-Coin- 
pany are making in their works, since it 
will have the effect of introducing a pro¬ 
per degree of competition into the trade 
«r furnishing to them the necessary, and 
important article of water, which for 
many years has been almost wliolly mo¬ 
nopolized by the New River Company 
a company, however, which I by no 
means intend to accuse of having exer¬ 
cised, oppressively, the powder which 
every monopoly bestows on its holders, 
and particularly the monopoly of so r.e- 
cessary and indespensabie an article as 
water. But, tliough they may not have 
misused that power, yet, while they conti¬ 
nued in the unrestrained possession of it, 
it was always liable to be abused, and 
the public were always exposed to the 
risk of having to pay for their commodity 
wiiatever price the company might think 
proper to exact; for, as water is an article 
which cannot be dispensed with, while it 
can he procured from only one source, 
there it must be obtained, be its price 
high or low. By the institution of a new 
company t he monopoly vvii! be destroyed, 
the power of extorticn curbed, the public 
be freed from the risk of imposition, and 
the two companies will become a mutual 
check upon each other; the fear of 
throwing an advantage into the hands of 
a rival lending to keep each company 
within the bounds of moderation, and to 
endow them and their servants with at¬ 
tentiveness and civtiiicy. This new com¬ 
pany, however, departing from the jirac- 
tice fulion ed by its predecessors, of con¬ 
veying the water through the hollowed 
trunks of trees, have ndo[)ted the use of 
iron, as a nioie durable material for the 
construction of their pipes, and this has 
either become the subject of real appre- 
hen.sion, or has been made use of by in¬ 
terested individuals, for the purpose of 
arresting the progress of the company’s 
works, and preventing their interference 
with the previously estab!islied\water- 
companies. Some iiave asserted that 
the water, in its passage through these 
iron pipes, from its first entering tliem 
till it reaches the houses of the inhabi¬ 
tants of the metropolis, must remain so 
long ill them as necessarily to acquire 
the properties which iron, when it sutii- 
ciently impregnates it, is known to com¬ 
municate to water, and that the water 
will become wholly unfit for domestic 
purposes, and prove exceedingly injurious 
to the constitutions of those vvlto may use 
it. Others object to the use of it, not 
from any apprehension of (lunger, but 
■from the idea liiat tiie iron will alter the 
nature of the water, and conununicale to 
it the quality of hardness, which will 
render it almost wholly unfit for culinary 
• * 
purposes, and entirely so for washing. 
if these opinions be the result of actual 
apprehension, it is singular how general 
tliat feeling has become; if they be the 
invention of persons adverse to the pros¬ 
perity of the new company, gieat must 
have been tiie industry with which the 
alarm has been snread, for in all carts of 
the town, and in persons in all stations in 
life, have I found the same opinions to 
prevail, respecting the effects of these 
iron pipes upon the water. 
It is certainly true that the water nrust 
remain in the pipes, or be in progress 
through tiiem,for a very considerable time, 
since, according to the company's adver¬ 
tisement, the water is obtained (£ 
tiiink) ten or twelve miles oif, and must 
Jiave some miles nroie to pass through 
them ill its ramifications through the 
tAwn, before it reaches the ciscerns-of our 
houses. 
To guard tire oublic against the danger 
of using this water, (if there be any dan¬ 
ger in using it,) or (if there be none) to 
protect the new company from the eifects 
ol an erroneous opinion, wjieclier sprmg- 
iiig from an ill-grounded apprehension, or 
the jealousy of a rival company, is cer¬ 
tainly an important and desirable object^ 
and I know of no better means of attain¬ 
ing it than by introducing the subject into 
your Magazine, as a question worthy of 
the attention of such of your correspon¬ 
dents whose acquaintance with the sub¬ 
ject may enable tiiein to answer it in a 
decisive and satisfactory manner. 
Octaher 14th, ISlh H. 
For 
