The water supply of Surrey, from underground sources, with records of sinkings and borings / by William Whitaker ... with contributions by Hugh Robert Mill ... Pub. by order of the lords commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury.

  • Whitaker, William, 1836-1925.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The water supply of Surrey, from underground sources, with records of sinkings and borings / by William Whitaker ... with contributions by Hugh Robert Mill ... Pub. by order of the lords commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Surrey is almost wliolly in the Jiasin of the Thames; hut a small area, on the south-west (near Haslemere, Chiddingfold and Dunsfold) drains southward to the Arun, the only stream that, rising in the northern part of the Wealden area, crosses it and flows southward to the sea. The tributary-basins in which the county is placed are those of the Wey and of the Mole, both of which reach through it from north to south, of the Wandle and of the llavensbourne, which start in the middle part of its eastern end, of the Darent (a very wee piece only, near Wester- ham), and of the Medway, one branch of which (the Eden) rises in the south-eastern corner of the county. The north-eastern part of the county contains the greater part of southern London, which, with its border, is supplied, by the Metropolitan Water Board, with water chiefly taken from the Thames, but supplemented by the yield of a few wells, at Merton and Camberwell. Outside the area of the metropolitan supply, which goes beyond the boundary of the London County Council, Surrey is almost wholly dependent on underground supply; but (according to the Waterworks Directory, 1911), the South West Suburban Com- pany and the West Surrey Company take water from the Thames, for populations of respectively 65,300, of which only part is in Surrey, and of 32,000 partly not in Surrey. Wells, and to a small extent springs, supply the rest of the county. According to the census of 1911, the administrative county of Surrey, that is excluding the London area and Croydon (? also Wimbledon), has a population of 845,544. This is an increase of 156,219 over the number for 1901, or a percentage of 29*4, the fourth highest rate of increase among the counties of England and Wales. The six Surrey boroughs that are included in London, are as follows, with their populations at the census of 1911, and the changes since 1901: — Wandsworth, 311,402, the highest of all the London boroughs and showing an increase of 34*3 per cent.; Laviheth, 298,126, a decrease of 1*2 per cent., the highest figure having been in 1901; Carnherwell, 261,357, an increase of *8 per cent.; South- wark, 191,951, a decrease of 6‘9 per cent, the highest figure being in 1901; Battersea, 167,793, a decrease of ‘7, the highest figure being in 1901; and Bermondsey, 125,960, a decrease of 3’7 per cent., the highest record having been in 1891. Outside London Surrey contains but one very large town, and that joins on to London. Croydon has a census-record of 169,599, an increase over 1901 of 35,664, or at the rate of 26*6 per cent. The population is now estimated at considerably over 170,000. The northern part of the borough is dependent on the metropolitan supply, whilst the central and southern parts have an inde- pendent one, from wells. The only other large lowii (that is, with a population uot less than 50,000), is Wimhledon, with 54,876, an increase of 13,224, or at tlie rate of 31*7 per cent., though by taking Kingston and Surbiton together, as ought to be done, for they are continuous.