Pollution of Rivers Commission
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POLLUTION OF RIVERS COMMISSION. (RIVER LEE INQUIRY.) Those Peers who wish for copies of the MINUTES OF EVIDENCE can obtain them of the Clerk of the Printed Papers, House of Lords. LONDON: PRINTED BY GEORGE EDWARD EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE, PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. 1867. REPORT. TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. WE, Your Majesty's Commissioners appointed by Your Majesty's Commission, dated the 18th day of May 1865, to inquire and report as to the pollution of rivers and running waters, and also as to any remedial measures which may be practicable, having on the 29th March 1866 presented our Report on the main stream of the river Thames, proceeded to examine certain rivers and streams in the manufacturing districts of Yorkshire; but, in consequence of representations made to us upon the subject of an outbreak of cholera in the months of July and August 1866 in Poplar and other parts of the district supplied principally by the East London Waterworks Company, which Company derives its water from the river Lee, we thought it advisable to make earlier inquiry into the pollutions of the river Lee than we otherwise should have done. We commenced to make public inquiry on the 10th December 1866, at the Rivers Commission Offices, No. 2, Victoria Street, Westminster, and we continued such inquiry on the 11th and 15th of the same month, and also on the 4th of February 1867. We also, after due notice in the districts, made public inquiry in the towns of Luton on December 12th 1866. Bishop Stortford „ 14th „ Tottenham „ 18th „ Hertford „ 19th „ Ware January 16th 1867 Information has been given to us by the officials and others connected with the River Lee Trust, the New-River Company and the East London Waterworks Company, and by the several local authorities in the towns and places visited, as also by millers, traders, and others. Tabulated returns are appended to the evidence of several witnesses. In our Instructions, dated 30th May 1865, we are directed to inspect and report, first, on "the Thames valley, both as an example of an agricultural river basin, with many "navigation works, such as locks and weirs, and mills affecting the flow of water, and "many towns and some manufactories discharging their sewage and refuse into the stream "from which is mainly derived the.water supply of the metropolis." The river Lee is one of the northern tributaries of the lower Thames, rising out of springs in Leegrave Marsh, situated in the county of Bedford, and about three miles above the town of Luton. The upper part of the river and its tributaries drain a considerable area of Hertfordshire. From Waltham Abbey to Blackwall the Lee forms the boundary between the counties of Middlesex and Essex. It is tidal from the Thames to Lee Bridge, a distance of about five miles, and is navigable for barges to Hertford, a total distance of 28 miles. The Stort joins the Lee at Feilde's weir, and is navigable for a distance of 13¾ miles. The area of the entire watershed of the Lee is about 500 square miles; or 320,000 statute acres, the dividing ridges to the west, north, and east, ranging from 450 to 300 feet above medium tide level.. The following is a list of the Tributaries from the north, cast, and west into the main River, with the Population (as given in the last census) and number of Mills in the basin of the Lee. Population in the basin of the Lee above point of abstraction (between Hertford and Ware) of the water by the New River Company, exclusive of Hertford, 73,526. Population in the basin of the Lee above point of intake (at Ponders End) of the water by the East London Waterworks Company 153,030. The canals which form junctions with the navigable part of the river are :— Name of Canal. Point of Junction with Lee. Towns and Places on the Banks of the River Lee and the Population as given in the last Census. The geological character of the river Lee basin is shown on a map appended to this Report. From the watershed on the north down to Hoddesdon the area is mostly chalk; from this point southwards towards the Thames the chalk passes beneath the plastic and London clays; in the several valleys the strata are covered by alluvial sand, gravel, and silt. Although the greater portion of the area is described as a natural filter, it is stated in the evidence that out of an average rainfall of 25 inches four-fifths or 20 inches are evaporated. The dry weather flow of the river Lee and its tributaries is described as, for the most part, spring water. The upper portions of the area are seldom flooded ; there are, however, heavy floodings in the lower portion. There are also considerable areas of marshy land which arterial and land draining would improve. The average annual fall of rain is about 25 inches, so that as compared with parts of England on the south and west coasts of Devonshire and Cornwall, or with the northern districts in the neighbourhood of the Solway, where the average fall of rain ranges from 36 up to 60 inches, the climate of the valley of the Lee is comparatively dry. Mr. Beardmore, Mr. Greaves, and Mr. Muir furnish tabulated returns of local rainfall, which will be found appended to their evidence. It will be seen in these tables that there is considerable variation as to the total volume of rain falling in any one year. An average serves to contrast one district with another district, but taken alone is not a trustworthy guide either for navigation purposes or for water-supply. The test in both cases is the rainfall of the driest years. The wide variation of rainfall is shown in the following extracts from the several tabulated returns. EAST LONDON WATERWORKS.—Mr. Greaves. Rainfall. 1860. Total depth from January to December ----- 32.558 1864. Ditto ditto – 15.891 RIVER LEE NAVIGATION.—Mr. Beardmore. Feilde's Weir, Herts, 90 feet above sea. Rainfall. 1852. Total depth of rain, January to December - 39.500 1S54. Ditto ditto - 17.900 I860. Ditto ditto - 33.750 1864. Ditto ditto - - - - - 17.880 NEW RIVER WATERWORKS.—Mr. Muir. Hoddesdon. Rainfall. I860. Total depth of rain, January to December - 32.358 1864. Ditto ditto .... 16.405 ENFIELD. Rainfall. I860. Total depth of rain, January to December ... - 37.125 1864. Ditto ditto ..... 18.490 These returns show as regards the valley of the Lee that in a dry year not quite one-half the depth of rain falls as in a wet year; during dry years much less water flows off the surface of the ground, and spring water is very much reduced in volume. The permanent water capacity of the Lee valley must therefore be measured by the minimum volume of rain falling on its surface rather than by the average. Like the river Thames, the river Lee has been navigable from time immemorial; but whilst on the Thames the navigation works had fallen iuto ruin, through the abstraction of trade by railways and through neglect, on the Lee the weirs, locks and other works are at this time in better order, the navigation is more efficient, and the trade is greater, than at any former period. The drainage area of the river Lee, as stated previously, is in round numbers about 500 square miles, the area of the Thames, including the Lee, is about 5,000 square miles, so that the relative areas of the two rivers are as nine to one; but the areas from which water is drawn from the Thames and the Lee respectively for the supply of London are as about eight to one. Five great water companies draw water from the Thames for the west and south of the metropolis, and two great water companies abstract water from the Lee for the supply of the eastern and northern parts of the metropolis. The minimum dry weather flow of the Thames at Teddington lock is about 350,000,000 gallons of water in each 24 hours, the extreme dry weather flow of water down the Lee at Lee Bridge is little above 40,000,000 gallons in each day of 24 hours. About one-half of the population of the metropolis receive their water supply (some 48,000,000 gallons per day) from the Thames, whilst the other half of the population is supplied with about 38,000,000 gallons from the Lee (as distinct from springs in the valley of the Lee), the New River Company supplying a population of 840,000 persons, and the East London Waterworks Company a population of 675,000 persons; the two companies together supplying 1,515,000 persons out of 3,037,99L the entire population within the metropolitan area. In each case the Water Companies possess statutory powers to draw larger volumes of water than those named, but want of pumping power on the Thames and deficiency of water in the Lee during dry periods have limited the daily volume given in each case up to the present time. In our first report on the Thames we show that pollution is general from the estuary to the highest point of the main stream. The great intercepting sewers of the metropolis intercept sewage from Hammersmith to Barking Creek on the north side, and from Putney to Crossness Point in Erith Marsh on the southern side, where it is passed into the ebbing tide; the Metropolitan Board of Works has entered into arrangements for the utilization of the sewage on the northern side, and are about to make arrangements for utilizing the sewage on the southern side.