350 LONDON IN'fHE NINI'.'tIlENTH CtrNTURY stancling until the abolition of the old Lor-rdon Bridge in r83r. \\'.e rla)' nou' convenientll- glance at the historl' of each big compauy in turn. 'fhe r,vater-suppi,vwas at the encl of the nineteenth centLrr)'in tl-re hands oi eight private companies, rvhose 6zo square miles of area comprisecl the wl-rolc of the \'Ietropolis ancl parts of Nliddlesex, Herts, F)ssex, Kent, and Surrev, The oldest of these, the Net, River Companr', originatecl in I6r3, in the manner alreacly describecl. The first shareholders were incorpor:rted in t6r9, under thc \Ii\\' RI'IlR \\"\'I'Eli\\'ol{KS Stoke Ne\ ington Ile5er\oir. .lr,rn irrg outlel Itrottt a l)/tolo 1'1'-/. F, ,1lost1'tt Cltttl,t title of ,''fhe Governors ar-rdConrpanv of the New River brought from Chadwell ancl Amwell to Lor-rdon." The directorate u'as vested in twenty-nine persons,who held thirt,r,six aclventurers'shares-so called in contradistinction to those held by the Iiing and his assigns-which had originally belonged to Sir I{r'rgh \{1'ddleton, tvho at this tinte retained onl1' tlvo.l Jarnes L did not live to receive any profits hirnself,and the thirty-six King's shares u'ere afteru'arclsresigned by Charles L I \o p:rr.ticulararea of sLrpPlr-l:rs grantecl to tlrc Conrpanl', at.iclthcre lls tto lit-uitlrtion of capital in the Cl.rarter. A Selcct Colrntittee of tltc Hor:se of Cournrons in t E: I st:ttc(1 the ol iginal c.):it to hllve bcen houses suppliecl, l'hc total {369,6oo. Its capital in rti37 las f l.:oo,ooo: revcnLle /lo5,ooo; 73'ooo. income of tl-rcnine other compaltiesthen cristilg lttloul)tcrl in rS37 to f r93,ooo. THE \\'ATEI{ SUI'PLY J5T in retr-trtrfor a yearly p,ayrlent of {5oo, u,hich the Crou,n receives to this dar : a palt11- sultl tvhen comparecl with the great value the sharcs \l.<:re clestinecl to possess at a later clate. N o clividencl \\ras paid till r 6J3. I3y the encl of the se\renteenthcer-rtur1- each share of the New River Company ll,asearning a diviclencl 'lhe of about {rco, and in r89o a liing's share rvas sold for {g5,ooo. Cornpanr- r,vasregulated by Acts of Parliamentin r 73S, tT39, r767, r7Tg, r8o5, rgzz, ancl r83o, the last of rvhich etnpou,eredit to erect two large impounding reservoirs at Stoke Neu.ington. \\'hen the New River co'rpan1' .bsorbecl the olcl Lo'don llricl!-.ewaterrvorlis irl l8:z thet'trndertookat the same tiure to suppl1'water to all citizenslr,hom the olcl Companl' hacl served, ancl to seclrre the thcn clividend to the original lrropricturs for two hundred and sixty years, n:rmel1',to the ex1-,ir1.of the leaseof fir,e hLrnclrecl Yearsu'hich had been granted in r532. l'hus the Nelv Rir.er Conrpanv u.ere bound to pa)'dSZSo ller altnum to the representatives of the origina.l orvners untii the ':,o8:. r-ear Other undertakings boLrght bv the Conrpar-r1.\\.ere the Hampste:rcl \\'aterrvorks, the Norch N'Iiclcllesex\\'arteru,orks, :r.ncla private enterprise a.t Ilush Hill Parl<. Thc Nelv River rises ;rt Chaclwell Spring, about :r rnile beyoncl \\'are, in Hertforclshire. A short clistancebelorv this point rhe river is joined by :r branch cut rvhich conveys wltat became the nrain part of thc Company's sr-rppl1-,namely the water fronr the River Lea. At first this suppll, rv:rs tal<en rvithout lct or hindrance, but after much litigation an arrangement rvas arrived at betwcen the 'l'rustees New River Contpany ancl the Lea whereby tire amount of w:rter to be drawn lrom the larger stream in tlie smailer u,as regulatecl. Originally.the New River was 40 miles long, but short cuts over some of the valley.sreclucecl the length considerabll" The aver:rge quantitl of n,ater supplied bv the Conrpanf is over l50.ooo,ooo gallons of filtered \vater obtainecl fronr the Rir,er Lea, Chacilr,ellSpring, irnd thirteen cieep wells sunk into the chalk, arnd about 2,5oo,ooo qalions of un- filtered water for other than dontestic purposesfrom the same sourcesancl from the Hampstead and I{ighgate Ponds. Surfarcelvater, u,hich usecl to fonrr 1 large Proportion of the supply, has r,vithin recent been as far as possible excluclecl 'fhr: )'ears liom the river. Company's district extends to roT square r-niles,the actual arezr suirpliedis less than ha1f,embracing the Citl' ancl centr:rl Loncion. Its bounclaries rnal'be describedas, on the west, Charing Cross, I-Ia1'nrarket,:rnclHanrlrsteacl Itoacl, on the south the'fhames, on the e:rsttl-ie'I'oler ancl StilnrforclHill, arrrlou the north 'I'he Southgate. Conrpanl' suppl1.:r population of r,23,3,JOj. :. f'he Chelse:l\\r:rteru'orl<s Compan), obtained their tjrst charter fronr George I. in r723, the result of an Act passedin the previous r-etrrlor better .srrpplr,ingthe 'I'he Ciil' and Liberties of \\restminster and parts adjacent. scheme \\insto bring $'ater lrom the l'hames into catralsand ponds, fronr u,hich it rvas to be raisecl into I-ONDONIN'fHE' NINETEE'NTH CI:,NTURY J). itl t7:6 ancl H1'cle Park' A ro1'ai rvarrant reservoirs betrveen oliver's \'Iourlt Park ir-rto resert'oirs' and them to convert trvo ponds in st' Jzrnres's 'rhe authorisecl ParL' construction of a reservoir in FI1'de another in r727 authorisecl the clrawn frotlr bank of the ri'er' aucl the \vater \\'as rvorks rvere situated ot't the north st:rteto the collsLltllers' In tEo9' clirect ancl clistributeclin its poilutecl the Thames to gollo,t, clail1"the con-rpally were empor'verecl lvhen thelr were raising r,-156,OOo ancl to lay pipresin the river-becl fror-nthe Thames near Ranelagh Creek' take rvater The ob,ui" wzlter belol' loll'-rvirter marl<' a clist:rnceof z4o feet in orcler ,o for in settling b1'allorving the impurities to subside llrsr artempt at purification $'as macle ftrst filter-bed in Lonclot] was then but this clid not prove "ff".tir'.. ThL reserl,oirs, h:rcl becn Simpson, the companl"s engineer' who introcluceclin rtizg by \Ir. Jarles '[-he attention to this subject' filter- so'e before to gi'e hls u'hole instructecl )rears the aplrear- and before being frlled ri'ith watcr h:rcl becl rvas macle of gr:tvel :rnd sancl, at the bottorr1 to one another, fortrreclbr banks bro:rd ance o| ser.eralchannels paral1el andgraclualll.s]OP.ll.,on"o.hsidetotrpoirttatthetop.Ithaclbricl<sicles'occu;lieda 1ravi.g an arearof about all acrc ilud acre, ancl lr,as suppliecl by .".eiuoirs about an clis- subsicling rcservoirs ; then' $'ithout First the \\,ater w:].s pulllpecl ipto the half. it soon through small pipes to the lilter-becl'wirere turbing the seclirnent,it florved - ut-'d sancl, rvhich rvere each 2 feet through the three strata i grot'"I percolatecl to In ti5, th" Comp:Ln1"sint:rkc was renlo'cd thick a'd laid over brick tu.nels. there irl t856' br"rt'as the floocls Seethincr\\Ie11s. arnd nerv u,orks \\'ere co;lPletecl 'fhames macle the rvater turbid' the Corrr- ir-rtothe fronr the \Iole reiul:rrl)' florving highcr in r875 to rel-novethe intalie to a point pan), sought Parliamentar)'sallction Locli, rl'ltere' accorclinglv' rle\l: \'orks river, about half a. nlile belo$' Sunbury up tl-re 'fwo rvith a fii7, tre\\' filterccl-lvater reserVoirs rvere brought ir-rtooPeratioll ill at Putney Flcath in lgoo' and of I rf million gallons \vere completecl torai catpacitl, I'ry art trIoleseylvas iucreased5O million galions the storage capacitl' of the reservoir 'f of zo| square 'riles is bou'ded otr o1 its ba.ks. he Company's ciistrict the raisi'g River tinightsbriclge, on the cast b}' the Neu' north by okl Brompton Roacl u,.,1 'fhe1' the sulrply rr south atlcl u'est b1' the Thirmes' Comp:r1y's clistrict, onJ on th" zz rnilliorrgallons c1ail1'fromthe Thanres' popLrlirtionof uE5,z-tr9, ancl nr:ry take uncler an Act of I'arliarrlcut llasseditr Lambeth \Vaterworks $'ere establishecl 3. rvirter frour of l-anrbeth arnclparrts acljacentrvith r7E5 for suppll,ing the inh:rbitants of Christ- 13riclge.ncl the couhues of the parish the Th:L're, b"trr,J",-,\\restminster """gin" only 2o horse-Power' stood olr The tvorks, containing "" of church. r:rihvay lvhere the footrvzr)'ol'er Chilring Cross Belr,edere Roacl, close to the site objects of t1-reo\vners \\'as to provicle pr.tecti.t] briclge norv e'cis. o'e of the chiei no assistancefrom the all-pollerfu1hrc fire, but in this resPectthel' received against to 'fhe,v great difficLrltiesto contend u'ith at first ou'itrg ilsurance companies. hacl .I.lratltes, thc orciirlarylrigh-li,ater nrark of the a large part of the clistrictbeing bclo\v THE WATER-SUPPLY JJJ Only 6z9 houses were on the first list of thc supply, ancl no dividencl r,v:rspaid for t\\'enty years, br-rtthe concern lvas controlled by far-seeing men who had no doubt of their ultinrate success. In r8oz the area was extended to the "respectable and popLrlousneighbourhood" of The Horns, Kennington. Abor-rt rSro the develop- nlent of drainage led to a large increaseof population in the Cornpany'sclistrict, and the works had to be enlarged. IJ), r8zo the r,voodenpipes were supersedeciby cast- iron ones. An open reservoir was erected on Streatham Hiil in r832, being served from the Belvedere Road \Vorks, and tlvo years later two large open reservoirs lvere ' r': ..h .;i cLItANING our FILTDR-tsr:Lls, IiAt.TERsE.\ (rtlrnrrrr \YATER$-ORXS) constructed at Brixton.