Report on the cholera epidemic of 1866 in England : supplement to the twenty-ninth annual report of the Registrar-General of births, deaths, and marriages in England / presented to both Houses of Parliament by command.

General Register Office Northern Ireland

Date:: 1868

Credit: Report on the cholera epidemic of 1866 in England : supplement to the twenty-ninth annual report of the Registrar-General of births, deaths, and marriages in England / presented to both Houses of Parliament by command. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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$in the East London water-held, where the mortality by cholera was at the rate of 72 deaths in 10,000 living! Again, West Ham with Stratford-le-Bow has an inde- pendent drainage system of its own ; and over this region, where the same water went, the same dreadfuLmortality prevailed. The cause of the mortality of cholera in London, whether on the north or the 1 south of the river, up to the rate of 5 in 10,000, it may be admitted on all hands is I explained by the diffusion of the cholera-stuff through personal intercourse, 1 sewers, and the slight contamination of the waters either of wells^or Thames J and of tbeXM^'^aTter filtration b} the water companies. All those companies had before 1866 professedly carried out extensive works for taking their waters from better sources, for filtering it, for storing it, for distributing it, in conformity with the provisions of the Metropolis Water Companies Act of 1852 ; and their works had been pronounced very good by three engineers appointed by the President of the Board of Health. “ The requirements,” said the three engineers, “ set forth in ‘‘^the Metropolis Water Act, 1852, have in all essential respects been fully and satisfactorily complied with by the several companies.” * The East London water company’s works are described in the Engineers’ report: , / in 1850 it had six open reservoirs, Sne at Lea bridge, one at Stamford Hill, and four at Old Ford ; in 1855 the new filter beds at Lea bridge were completed; the filtered water was brought, in a four-feet iron pipe, to Old Ford, into two oval reservoirs, which, used formerly as subsiding reservoirs, were now covered over with brick arches and earth. “ 21ie other reservoirs of the company near Old Ford and that “ at Stamford Hill aref say the reporters, “ now thrown out of use. * * *■ The large depositing reservoirs upon which they had to rely for clearness of the water have 7iow been abandoned, and all communication betiveen them and the mains has been cut q^.” t In the reporters’ map the small covered reservoirs of 2J acres is engraved; the two open reservoirs of 9 acres, east of the Lea, are sup- pressed in the map, on the ground probably above alleged, that ‘‘ they were thrown, out of use.” These open ponds do not figure in the elaborate water map of R. W. Mylne, C.E., published in 1856. The open reservoirs contain water admitted to be unfiltered ; and Mr. Greaves the engineer, speaking for the company, in his letter to the Times, dated August 1st, 1866, made this statement: ‘‘The facts ( « are * ^ that the canal having been since 1853 disused for all purposes of “ supply, is only maintained as a drain from the filter to a lower part of the river; that not a drop of unfiltered water has for several years past been supplied by the company for any purpose.^’\ *]^s was perplexing ; but the company, by taking the unfiltered water from the open reser^irs, violated an Act of Parliament, and on the ground, perhaps, that they were not bound to criminate themselves, they, in the words of their engineer, besides pleading “ not guilty,” boldly proclaimed their innocence on August 1st. Shortly afterwards Mr. Greaves, however7~admitted candidly,'' that the open re- servmni' ofliDfiTi^e^^^^ water could be^drayya. on and by the report ofTh’ofessor Fnrtiklahd (August 2Atli)' goes a step Further. ‘‘ Communication,” Professor Frank- land says, ‘‘ can be established between these reservoirs and the pumping wells “ supplying the public, but Mr. Greaves assured me that it ivas never done, except in case of emeryency.^'’\ In his examination before the Pollution of Rivers Commission on December 10th,^^r. Greaves advances another step, and states, that a smalLguantity of water waTTaken our^f^fieTff'The^peii Feservoirs this “ spring;’ ‘‘he liad'hoL'the date;” “probably June was the latest date,” but he could not say definitely. Further revelations were made by the workniea. under examination by Captain T;^er; and the stm^is at lengW’IhhF iold by oncers of the company :— The foreman of the company died quite suddenly of apoplexy early in this j year (1866). In appointing a new man, in giving him discretionary instruction as to how he was to manipulate the water, “ I described,” says Mr. Greaves, “ this i “ possibility [of drawing on the open ponds] as something which he must keep / * Report to Right Hon. W. Cowper, M.P., President of Board of Health, on “ Metropolis Water Supply,” 1856, by H. Austin, W. Ran ger, and A. L. Dickens, Superintending Inspectors, p. 101. t Ibid, pp. 65, 67. j See Appendix, p. 92. 5 See Appendix, p. 124. B$