Report upon inquiry as to the truth or otherwise of certain allegations contained in a memorial from the vicar and other inahbitants of Barking, in the county of Essex, calling attention to the pollution of the river Thames by the discharge of sewage through the Northern Main Outfall Sewer of the Metropolitan Board of Works / by Robert Rawlinson... together with minutes of proceedings, abstract, and index.

  • Rawlinson, Robert, 1810-1898.
Date:
1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report upon inquiry as to the truth or otherwise of certain allegations contained in a memorial from the vicar and other inahbitants of Barking, in the county of Essex, calling attention to the pollution of the river Thames by the discharge of sewage through the Northern Main Outfall Sewer of the Metropolitan Board of Works / by Robert Rawlinson... together with minutes of proceedings, abstract, and index. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    sewage; effect of acceleration, 2168-2197. The extension of the Horse End shoal may arise from a variety of causes, hut is principally attributable to the Roding and to diminished velocity of the water, 2198-2205. Re-examinat ion. Plan produced accurately corresponds with and repre- sents the facts, 2206, 2207. Haywood, Mr. W: Is surveyor to the Commissioners of Sewers of the city of London, and was associated with Mr. Frank Forster in the preparation of a scheme for the interception of the northern portion of the metropolitan sewage; Barking as the place of outfall was frequently considered, and finally adopted as the best position ; it fulfils well the require- ments of the metropolitan population, as well of those who live near the point of outfall, 2429-2443. Undoubtedly an accumulation of mud took place in the river, but it is now falling away; the navigation has not been impeded by it. The deposit at the mouth of the Roding might he cleared away by an expenditure of 250/.; it cannot be attributed to the metropolitan outfall. The Chartered Gas Company's pier (being out of the main channel of the Thames) is not a matter of importance, 2444-2449. Mud in Barking Creek is like ordinary Thames mud ; the deposit of 700,000 cubic yards in four years is a simple impossibility, 2450-2454. Cross-examination. Mud in the Roding had on the whole the characteristics of the usual Thames mud; it had no smell of sewage, and might be produced by vegetable matter brought down by the Roding, 2455-2460. Barking was selected as the place of outfall with the belief, firstly, that the sewage would all go away to the sea, and secondly, that it would do so without creating any nuisance to the in- habitants on its way seaward, nor has it created any nui- sance. Under certain conditions sewage may be brought up the river, but the probability is, that immediately after- wards storms would arise, and great upland floods would combine to cause it to disappear very rapidly, as was the case a few years ago, 2461-2472. He-examination. The question of utilization was left for further con- sideration, 2473-2476. Road detritus which comes down is diminishing year by year ; if it does get into the sewers the average current is not sufficient to carry the heavy drift into the reservoirs. Reasons why there should be more detritus in Birmingham sewers than those of Lon- don; in nearly the whole metropolis any material that got down from the roads into the sewers would lie in the sewers. The estimate of 700,000 tons of solid matter is entirely assumption. Total voidance of solids is about Lj lbs. for every individual, but by desiccation a great deal of the excreted matter is destroyed, 2477-2498. Flood flow of sewage varies with the weather, as it may be wet or dry; a considerable quantity of organic matter is brought down after heavy rains from the highly manured agricultural lands in the drainage area of the Thames, 2499-2504. Hemans, Mr. G. W. [Civil Engineer) : Allegations of the memorialists, as far as the naviga- tion of the Thames and of the creek are concerned, are not founded on fact; it is impossible that the amount of solid material delivered from the London outfall can get into the creek, it is so small in comparison with the volume of Thames water with which it is mixed. With regard to the foreshore near the main outfall, where a mud shoal has evidently formed, there is nothing traceable to sewage from the outfall; if there be sewage, it must be attributed to the sewage which, for the present, must come down the Thames, and not to the Barking or Crossness outfalls 2363-2372. Explanation as to Mr. Bidder's statement of quantity of solid matter delivered daily; only 70 tons from northern outfall, which is diluted in the proportion of 1 ton to about 60,000 tons of water, 2373-2375. If any of the discharged sewage returns to Barking, it is con- trary to all laws of hydraulics and mechanics. Explana- tion as to Sewage Utilization Company. Shoal of mud near the creek is to be attributed to the tidal action of the water, which comes up with a great quantity of mud, and when this spreads out there must be a certain amount of deposit. The artificial manure works at the mouth of the creek are extremely offensive, 2376-2386. Cross-examination. Theory of the float experiments (which were Arery care- fully conducted) may be wrong, but witness still relies upon it, and unless there be some extraordinary eddy it is impossible to see how the London sewage can return to Barking. The most natural way to account for any sewage deposit above the main outfall is that it finds its way down, not having been intercepted by the low-level sewer, 2387-2401. Cross-examined as to t!ie Sewage Utilization Company, 2402-2419^ Re-examination. Sewage being subject to disintegration, the particles more readily follow the current; during the whole time the sewage is flowing up or down it is in contact and mixing with the water, 2420-2428. McDougall, Mr. J.: Is surveyor and assistant to Metropolitan Board of Works; produces plans and sections of different parts of the Thames and of Barking Creek, 1067-1078. Bed at mouth of creek is lightish mud 3 or 34 feet deep; depth of water in mid-channel at spring tides between 20 and 21 feet; width of channel 250 leet, 1082-1097. Bed 1 mile 1,080 yards from the quay has but little mud; the true bed is composed of shingle; depth of water 20 feet 6 inches; width of channel 240 feet, 1098-1105. Bed 1 mile 856 yards from the quay consists of gravel, chalk, and a little soft river mud; depth of water about 19 feet, width of channel 280 feet, 1106-1112. Description of other sections below the quay, 1125-1171. The creek has improved since 1858, 1113-1121. No offensive smell in the creek; the mud accumulated may be accounted for by protection from the wind, and from no steamers passing up and down, as in the Thames ; sewage deposit from Thames water has no chance of remaining on the slopes, as it is washed away at low water; no difference in the mud now and before the opening of the main sewers outfall, 1177-1196. Mouth of creek has been deepened by the removal of coffer dam of Reclamation Company; deposit of mud was only temporary, 1200-1202. in June 1869 the water, on the turn of the tide, was of a brown chocolate colour; it looked worse below the tidal sluice, 1204-1211. From the bottom of the basin to below the Reclamation Works there was no mud in 1868, 1225-1233. Describes sound- ings made in 1864, 1234-1262. Cross-examination. There are back sluices just above Barking quay which flush into the creek, the scour of which, with the backwater, keeps the bottom clear of deposit when the tide is out, 1263-1266. Mode adopted in taking soundings in the creek ; the men walked along the middle ; depth of mud was tried with poles when the tide was up. Has known the creek 20 years, and finds very little difference in it. Mud brought up on the poles did not smell particularly offensively; it consisted of loam with very fine sand; some of the mud was black, such as is found in inland ditches, 1267-1293, 1354-1367. There is a deposit of mud on the Horse End 3 feet 6 inches deep at the deepest part; the sections show a decrease in mud there since 1864; the soundings were not taken across the creek but across the Thames; explains the positions of the soundings on the plan as taken in 1864, 1867, 1868, and 1869, 1294-1339. The Horse End was in as bad a condition in 1864 as it is now; in 1867 and 1868 there was an accumulation of mud, which has nearly dis- appeared, 1340-1347. Does not think sewage is so injurious to fish as is generally supposed, 1368-1370. Re-examination. Sewage now discharged at the main outlet is of the same character as that formerly discharged into the Thames; sewage is not so fatal to fish as chemical stuff, 1371-1374. Has known the creek and Horse End for 20 years; never could walk down the banks free from mud, nor get to a boat at half tide. Horse End was rather flat at first; it has worn down to a point, 1375-1406. Soundings taken in 1867 were compared with those of the Con- servancy Board, and were found to agree pretty nearly, 1407-1411. Kiver surveying requires special practice and special knowledge to take soundings, 1417, 1418. Miller, Dr. W. A., F.R.S.: Is professor of chemistry at King's College and doctor of medicine. Has examined, in conjunction with Dr. Odling, various samples of sewage deposit taken from the Thames between Teddington and Crossness, also some from the docks and from Barking Creek, 2208-2215. Average amount of organic matter in Barking Creek is 16'2; in 100 parts of which there is 3! of nitrogen. Mud of Roding above Barking contained 17'3 of organic matter, of which 3'17 per cent, was nitrogen. Mud in the creek contained 83'8 of mineral matter, 2216-2222. Thames mud from Chiswick to Westminster is practically