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The Lancet Special CommissionON

THE METROPOLITAN WATER-SUPPLY.

111.1THE CHELSEA WATERWORKS COMPANY.

History.THE Chelsea Waterworks Company dates from the reign

of George I. In 1722 an Act was passed for better supplyingthe city and liberties of Westminster and parts adjacentwith water. By this Act commissioners, undertakers, andtrustees were appointed for effecting the works necessary forbringing water from the Thames into canals and ponds, fromwhich it was to be raised into convenient reservoirs betweenOliver’s Mount and Hyde-park. The commissioners andtrustees were formed into a corporate body under the title of"The Governor and Company of Chelsea Waterworks." In

1723 George I., by letters patent under the Great Seal,appointed the commissioners and granted a charter to enablethe Company to raise the necessary funds for carrying outthe work. In 1726 the company was authorised to converttwo ponds in St. James’s-park into reservoirs and in 1727 toconstruct a reservoir in Hyde-park. In 1733 the authorisedcapital of the company was increased and the companywas obliged to keep books of account. By the year1726 considerable progress had been made in the work, andthe canals made from the Thames served to supply reservoirsin St. James’s-park, so that Whitehall and parts ofWestminster were supplied with water in August, and theengines were of sufficient power to raise the water to thereservoir in Hyde-park. This reservoir was capable of hold-ing 25,000 hogsheads (or 1,350,000 gallons) of water, andthe one in St. James-park held almost as much, so that thecompany was "in a condition to serve upwards of 10,000houses with water at a cheaper rate than the New RiverCompany or any other company at that time." The adver-tisement of the company asserted that if there were no otherwater to serve the cities of London and Westminster and

parts adjacent they would be able to supply the whole assoon as their pipes could be laid for that purpose. Thesevere winter of 1739-40 caused much trouble, and avariety of unforeseen obstacles and difficulties occurred."The works were frozen up or destroyed by the severity ofthat dreadful winter. In 1767 the amount of water raisedwas 784,000 gallons, and in 1809 1,456,000 gallons daily. In1809 an Act was obtained to enable the company to takewater from the Thames near Ranelagh Creek and to lay pipesin the river bed for a distance of 240 feet, so that water

might be obtained below low-water mark. At this time thewater was distributed without purification; later it wasallowed to subside in settling reservoirs before distribution.The first filter bed in London was constructed in the year

1829, and was designed by Mr. James Simpson, engineerto the Chelsea Company. Mr. Simpson made a variety ofexperiments during the years 1825-26 and in the followingyear began experiments on a larger scale, being desired bythe directors of the Chelsea Company to direct his wholeattention to the subject. It may be interesting to describethe first filter bed that was made in London. It occupiedabout one acre, its sides were formed with brickwork, and itwas supplied by reservoirs which had" an area of aboutone and a half acres. The water was first pumped into thesubsiding reservoirs and passed from them to the filter bed,the water being allowed to flow through small pipes withoutdisturbing the sediment. By this means, to quote a con-temporary account, ’’ the greater part of the extraneous i

matter being separated by the deposition of its feculencewhilst standing in the reservoirs the water rapidly perco-lated through the gravel and sand of which the beds areformed....... The filter bed before being filled with waterhad the appearance of several channels parallel to each otherformed by banks which are broad at the bottom and

gradually slope on each side to a point at the top." The

1 Nos. I. and II. were published in THE LANCET of Feb. 20th and27th, 1897, respectively.

sides were built of brickwork and the filtering materialwas formed of three different strata of gravel and sandlaid over brick tunnels; the tunnels were built withoutmortar. Immediately over the brickwork fine gravel waslaid, above this finer gravel mixed with coarse sand, and onthe top fine sand. Each of these layers was 2 ft. in thick-ness, so that the water passed through 6 ft. of filteringmaterial. The sand and gravel were washed before they wereused. The fine sand used at the top had the advantage ofremoving the feculent matter which was chiefly deposited onits smooth surface, and the accumulated sediment was easilyremoved by scraping. It was found that the matter

deposited discoloured the sand for a depth of about 3 inches,but the greater part of the matter was deposited on the

; surface, so that when half an inch of the upper layer ofsand only was removed it renovated the efficiency of thefilter. It was found that the inclemency of the seasons didnot affect the action of the filter, and that when the ice was

, several inches thick filtration went on uninterruptedly.About the year 1826 considerable improvements were

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made in a reservoir which the Company possessed inthe Green-park. Mud, which had been collecting in

. it for several years, was removed, and the reservoir, was deepened. The bottom of the reservoir was lined with

hard bricks cemented together and it was surroundedby a brick wall. At this time also the machinery forregulating the sluices was altered and a very "ingeniouscontrivance" invented by Mr. Simpson obviated the necessity

.of replacing the upright pipe which formerly stood at its,

western extremity, and is shown in a characteristic

drawing of Rowlandson, now in the print room at theBritish Museum. The path round the reservoir was atthe time a fashionable promenade. The length of thereservoir was 230 yards, the width 35 yards, and thespace occupied with all its appurtenances was about twoacres. The height above Thames high-water mark was45 ft. At this time about 25,000 tons of water were usuallystored in the reservoir, although it was capable of holdinga larger amount, and the engines pumped up the water

every four days. The mains were 10 ft. below the surfaceof the water when the basin was full and served to supplyhouses in Westminster and Pimlico.

In 1852 an Act entitled " The Chelsea Waterworks Act of1852 " was passed. It authorised the Company to take

. water from the Thames at Seething Wells, in the parish of ’

Kingston-on-Thames, and to construct new works in that

parish, and allowed water to be taken from Chelsea Reach until the work was finished. Filter-beds were constructed at

Seething Wells and mains laid down to conduct filtered water: to service reservoirs on Putney Heath, from whence it was, distributed by gravitation, passing across an aqueduct over

the Thames at Fulbam. These works were completed in1856. In 1875 an Act was obtained to enable the Company

to remove their intake from Seething Wells, which is below the junction of the Mole with the Thames, to West Molesey ; and to put up the necessary works there for that purpose.- These were completed in the autumn of 1877.; Present State: : General Description..

The Chelsea Waterworks supply Fulham, Walham-green,’ Chelsea, Belgravia, Pimlico, and part of Westminster. Thedistrict is bounded on the west and on the south by theE Thames, and extends along the bank of the river from theCrab Tree public-house to the lower part of Northumberland-r avenue ; the northern boundary runs along Crown-lane andthe Old Brompton-road and Knightsbridge adjoining thedistricts supplied by the Grand Junction and West Mid-dlesex Companies, and on the east the district supplied by

t the New River Company. The intakes are at Walton, WestMolesey, and Surbiton. There are subsiding reservoirs atJ Molesey and filter beds at Surbiton. After filtration thewater is pumped to reservoirs on Putney Heath ; fromPutney it passes over the bridge between Putney and Fulhamand is then distributed by gravitation.

The intakes.-The chief intakes are at Walton and WestMolesey on the south bank of the Thames. (See Fig. 1,

e B and A_) The water first passes through a 1 in.-grating.e The gratings are 6 ft. in width and 3 ft. in depth.r Of these gratings there are fifteen, and they are placed

three deep. The gratings keep out the coarser impurities-for example, leaves, small pieces of wood, &c. They

e are cleansed from the river side from a boat. From the

d intake two 36-in. pipes pass under the towing-path intothe company’s grounds, which adjoin the towing-path.

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The pipes are controlled by two regulation cocks. Thewater first passes into a well through five bays. The baysare 6 ft. on inside measurement and are fitted with screens.Some of the screens are of galvanised iron, the newer onesare of copper wire. The screen used is an unusually fineone containing twenty-five meshes to the square inch. The

frequency with which the screens are cleansed naturallyvaries according to the state of the river ; sometimes it isfound necessary to cleanse them twice a day. When theriver is in a comparatively pure state it is not thought neces-sary to clean them more than twice a week, or even lessoften. Through the screens the water passes into a brickculvert of which the dimensions are 4 ft. 10 in. by 4 ft.The Molesey intake (Fig. 1, A) has outside screens similar

to those which have already been described. The water

FiG. 1.

Walton and Molesey Station. A, The new intake (West Molesey).B, The old intake (Walton). c C, Brick culvert into which the

gravel water flows. D, Engine house. E E, Main whichconducts water to Seething Wells (Kingston). F F, Parish

boundary. R 1, R 2, R 3, R 4, Reservoirs.

passes by two 30-in. pipes into a tank 20 ft. in depththrough a number of screens 6 ft. by 4 ft. The screens arefastened on iron frames which are fixed’ into grooves.From the tank the water flows into the engine house.

Water from the gravel bed.-There is a brick culvertextending from the old to the new intake. (See Fig. 1,C c.) This culvert is used for obtaining a certain amountof water from the gravel. At the sides of the culvertiron valves are arranged. When these valves are raisedthe water can flow through the stratum of gravel intothe culvert. The culvert is 75 ft. from the river and hasfifteen valves in it-that is to say, there are fifteen placesthrough which the water can pass into it from the gravel bed.The gravel beds just outside the culvert are in part artificiallymade ; larger sized stones were placed in the immediateneighbourhood of the inlets into the culvert. It is found,practically, that little water can be obtained from this sourceexcept during the times when the Thames is at flood. Whenvisited on Dec. 8th the river was 4ft. above its normal heightand the gravel water was being used and it was understoodthat no water was being taken directly from the river andthat the water which was going to Seething Wells wasderived entirely from the subsiding reservoirs and from thegravel beds. The Thames on this day (Dec. 8th) was veryturbid, but the water derived from the gravel was almostclear.

Engine house.-The engine house contains a Worthingtonengine of 150-horse power, which can pump 24,000,000 gallonsdaily into the reservoir. In the same house there are twovertical engines of 50-horse power each, which work bucket

and plunger pumps. The steam is generated by six Cornishboilers and one Lancashire double flue boiler.

Subsiding reservoirs.-The water from the Thames ispumped into four subsiding reservoirs. These are situatedbetween the Thames and the high road (Fig. 1, R 1, R 2,R 3, R 4). They are more or less square in form. Eachhas an area of about ten acres, and is capable of holding35,000,000 gallons. The water is first pumped into one ofthe two reservoirs which are next the river; having remainedthere for some time it is allowed to flow into the second,then into the third, and finally into the fourth. It is foundthat the reservoir into which the water first flows containsa deposit three or four times as great as that found in thefourth reservoir. From Molesey the water flows by gravita-tion, or is pumped through a 36-in. pipe to Kingston.

Seething Wells, Kingston.-The Kingston station containsthe filter beds and the engines which pump the water to

Putney (Fig. 2).Ir’ilter beds.-There are seven filter beds having a total

area of seven acres. Each filter is capable of holding about1,100,000 gallons of water. The rate at which water isusually filtered is 1 3/4 gallons per square foot per hour. Thesand is washed by a hose and jet, under a pressure of 200 ft.of water.Engine house.-The engine house contains two Simpson’s

double-action pumps of 150-horse power, and two bucketand plunger pumps of 150-horse power. The steam isgenerated by thirteen Cornish boilers. Another engine housecontains four Simpson’s engines of 600-horse power workingbucket and plunger pumps. At one time the intake of thecompany was at Kingston ; now all the water is usually takenat West Molesey and Walton, and having passed through thesubsiding reservoirs there goes as described to Kingston. Theold inlets by which the water was formerly taken from theThames at Kingston remain, and are used in cases of

FIG. 2.

Seething Wells, Kingston-on-Thames. a A, Engine houses.B, Office, coalshed, workshop, c c, Main from West Molesey.F 1, F 2, F 3, F 4, r 5, r 6, F 7, Filter beds. F 8, Filter bed nowin course of construction.

emergency. From Kingston the filtered water is pumped tocovered reservoirs on Putney-heath.

Putney-heath reservoir.-The property at Putney-heathconsists of eight acres situated at a height of about 177 ft.above ordnance datum. There is a stand-pipe by means ofwhich an additional head of 22 ft. of water can be obtained.There are three reservoirs having a total capacity of11,000,000 gallons. From Putney-heath there are three24-in. pipes and two 12-in. pipes, which pass through Putneyand over the bridge between Putney and Fulham to Chelsea

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and distribute the water. The main pipes pass in the direc- 01tion shown in the plan. tc

Area of Supply. w

The Act of 1852 authorises the Chelsea Company to supply -..the following places :- : S’

<S’MppM<: Brompton; Buckingham Palace and the pre- s‘cincts; Close of the Collegiate Church of St. Peter, West- tlminster; Kensington Palace and precincts ; St. James’s 0Palace and precincts ; and Scotland Yard. c

Partly supplied Chelsea; Fulham; Kensington, St. Mary 01Abbott ; St. George, Hanover-square; St. James, West-minster; St. John the Evangelist, Westminster; St. .1Margaret, Westminster; St. Martin-in-the-Fields; White- bhall; and Westminster Palace and precincts. t;Not supplied : Hammersmith; Liberty of the Duchy of a a

Lancaster ; St. Mary, Paddington; St. Anne, Soho ; St. f,Clement Danes; St. George, Bloomsbury ; St. Giles, nBloomsbury ; St. Giles-in.the-F’ields ; St. John the Baptist, s

Savoy, Strand; St. Marylebone ; St. Mary-le-Strand ; St. c

Paul, Covent Garden ; and Savoy precincts. The following table gives the average daily supply per 1

head and the dates of the maximum and minimum supply rper head for the years 1895 and 1896. It will be seen that in tboth these years the maximum supplies were given during the i

month of July, but the minimum supply in 1895 occurred in iJanuary, and in 1896 in February. 1

TABLE I.-Showing Average Daily Supply. 1

average daily Maximum MinimumYear. supply per ,.&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;’-&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash; "’ r ^ --

-

head. Month per head. Month per head.1895 43.05 gallons July 47-96 gallons January 38’45 gallons

1896 42’90 gallons July 5180 gallons February 38’70 gallonsLengt7a of pipes.-The length of the company’s mains in

December, 1896, was 245 91 miles.Nurnbe9’ of hydrants.-The number of hydrants erected

during the year 1895 was 333 ; during the year 1896, 322;and the total number on Dec. 31st, 1896, was 1386.

Oomrtmnication with other companies’ mains.--There is acommunication with the main of the Grand Junction

Company, near St. George’s Hospital, Hyde-park-corner.Houses under constant s7/pply.-The number of houses

under constant supply on Dec. 31st, 1894, was 23,314; onDec 31st, 1895, 27,104 ; and on Dec. 31st, 1896, 30,787.

Total 7aumaber of houses supplied.-The total number ofhouses supplied by this company on Dec. 31st, 1894, was36,941 ; on Dec. 31st, 1885, 36,941; and on Dec. 31st, 1896,37,362.

Percentage of Aousesundep constant supply.-On Dec. 31st,1895, the percentage of houses under constant supply was73-00, and on Dec. 31st, 1896, 82-00. ’

New Works in Progress and Projeeted.Filter bed.-A new filter bed is in course of construction

at Surbiton. (See Fig. 2, F 8).New wMMt.&mdash;A new 36-in. main is being laid from Molesey

to Seething Wells, Surbiton.

OUTBREAK OF TYPHOID FEVER TRACEDTO SPECIFIC POLLUTION OF A

WATER-SUPPLY.BY JOHN C. THRESH, M.D. VICT., D.SC. LOND.,

MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH, ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL.

THE following brief account of a localised outbreak of

typhoid fever is of considerable interest inasmuch as theorigin has been clearly traced to the use of a spring-waterwhich had become polluted by sewage at a time when thesewage was specifically infected with the excreta of one ortwo persons suffering from that disease.The outbreak occurred in the small town of Halstead, in the

northern portion of the county of Essex. The town is sup-plied with water from a deep well in the chalk. There area few shallow wells still in use, and on Mount-hill, on thenorthern outskirts of the town, there is a public drinkingfountain by the roadside fed by the subsoil water collected

on the hill. The surplus water from this fountain is pipedto some works in the town, and supplies the cottage of aworkman who resides on the premises. The only persons whouse this water for domestic purposes are the inmates of thiscottage, and the fountain is little used in the cold weathersave by children in passing to and from school. Near thetop of the hill and above the source of the spring supplyingthe fountain an isolation hospital has recently been erected.On Nov. 17th a baker, who is constantly driving about thecountry, was notified to be suffering from typhoid fever, andon the following day he was removed to the hospital. OnDec. 7ch a daughter of this patient was notified and removedthe same day. How the baker became infected we havebeen unable to ascertain. On Dec. 28th the man residingatthe cottage supplied with waterfrom the Mount.hill spring wasattacked. As he had had no communication with the baker’sfamily and had not been away from the town for over twomonths, a local cause was strongly suspected. The water-

supply came under suspicion inasmuch as it had beenobserved that early in the month, after a heavy rainfall, thewater was turbid. As such a condition had never beforebeen observed it necessarily was remarked. As soon

as suspicions were aroused the water was examined bythe chemist at the works, and at the request of Dr. GordonRoberts the Urban District Council caused two samplesto be examined by a local chemist, one sample beingtaken from the fountain and the other from a smalltank into which the water flows to feed the fountain. Atthe time these samples were taken the water had againbecome clear. The analyses proved satisfactory, the locatchemist certifying that the analytical data "are in bothcases quite satisfactory and do not afford any indication ofcontamination, the quantity of organic matter actuallypresent being in each case extremely small and insignificant.Examined microscopically nothing objectionable could bedetected in either....... 1 do not think any suspicion can beattached to either water." Between Jan. 22nd and 30th

1 four children residirg on Mount-hill were notified to be

sufferirg from typhoid fever, all of whom acknowledged to1 drinking more or less frequently at the fountain when passing.; As the water had on several occasions been observed to be

turbid after rain, and no other cause save the use of the watert seemed capable of explaining the dissemination of the infec-1 tion, Dr. Roberts plugged up the fountain tap and wrote ask-

ing my assistance. After my visit and at my request every ott ers probable cause, such as the milk supply, attendance at anyti party or school treat, &,c., was investigated, but with negative

results. Recognising the futility of examining the fountainf water when it had become clear, I asked that a sample of,s the water when next observed to be turbid should be taken), and sent to me ; meanwhile I recommended that the pipes

conveying the water to the tank and fountain should beb, traced and uncovered to discover the cause of the turbidityLS which resulted after a heavy rain. A few days after a

sample of the turbid water was sent me, and the DistrictCouncil ordered the pipes to be uncovered, after debatingthe necessity fcr such action for some time. The pipes

In conveying the water were found to cross over the roadway,passing under the sewer (leading from the isolation hospital

y and cottages above) and almost in contact therewith. Theyconsisted of ordinary agricultural drain pipes, whilst thesewer was of earthenware with "plugged" joints, andfour of the pipes nearest to and over the water pipes were-

damaged. The sewer was laid twenty years ago, but it.

appears probable that the pipes were only broken some sixmonths ago, by the passing over of the steam road roller.During dry weather any leakage from the sewer might notdirectly enter the water pipes, but during heavy rains theescape would be considerable, and would pass straight into-the land drain or water pipes, and so contaminate the watersupplying the fountain and infected cottage.

of The turbid water upon analysis proved to be very impure,he the organic ammonia and oxygen absorbed being very much higher than in samples previously examined. Bacteriologicallyhe the water was carefully examined to detect the presence of,

the bacterium coli commune and the bacillus typhosus. Theor growth in phenolated broth was rapid and abundant. From

this a phenolated plate culture was made which gave a large;he number of colonies, none of which liquefied gelatin, andip- which in appearance resembled those of the bacillus coli’1re and typhcsus. Certain of these in a gelatin culture pro-he duced gas bubbles, others did not, ana these latter whenag grown in broth did not produce iLdol. Compared with theted typical typhoid organism no teEt which we were able to,