Minutes of evidence taken before the Select Committee on the Supply of Water to the Metropolis ; together with an appendix, containing sundry papers laid before them.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on the Supply of Water to the Metropolis.
- Date:
- [1821?]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Minutes of evidence taken before the Select Committee on the Supply of Water to the Metropolis ; together with an appendix, containing sundry papers laid before them. 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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![LvncEy 19* die Febriiarij, 182L WILLIAM HENRY FREMANTLE, ESQUIRE, IN THE CHAIE. William Ckadwell Mylne, Esq. Again called in ; and Examined. IF your machinery had been improved, and your steam engines enlarged, and ifnUam C, Myln your mains increased, could you not, at the period of 1810, have supplied a larger Esq. quantity of water ?—The machinery was merely applied to distribute the water ^ after it had arrived, and, therefore, it would not increase the supply of the New (19 February.) River. If your machinery had been increased and enlarged, would the Nevv^ River head have affoi'ded fund enough to supply a greater proportion ?— A very small propor- tion ; it would have lowered the head, and the velocity of the river would have been increased. Could you now supply a larger quantity than was supplied at that time ?—No. You were asked, Do you expend the whole of your means at the present time r your answer is, No, not in the supply of the town. Can you give us any idea of what is reserved ? *' 1 have not got it here, but I have calculated it within the last month, taking it in general numbers ; I forget what it amounted to. What do you do with it ? *' Let it off. Then it appears that there was a reser- vation of water, at that time, beyond that which was exhausted ?—At the present time, not then. It is now used to turn a water-wheel to raise water ?—Yes. Then there was r.o reservation at that time ?—No. There is a reservation at the present time ?—Yes. Could you supply more at the present time, if it was called for ?—There is a sur« plus of about eleven million hogsheads in the year. The eleven million hogsheads only applies to the distribution of that which went to the high service ; the general distribution to the whole metropolis is about seventy-eight millions ?—About seventy-eight millions in 1810 ; I consider it about sixty-seven millions in 1820, making a difference of about eleven millions. And you have no estimate of the present moment ?—No ; I find I was in error, in taking the account from the engine books; the accounts were only made up to 1809, and not 1810. I will deliver in the account. [It was delivered in.] You are understood to have stated, that the same quantity of water came down to the New River head in 1810, as does now come down, or nearly the same?— Thereabouts. Are you of opinion, that of these same quantities of water an equal quantity found its way into the houses, considering the state of the works in 1810, as does now find its way into the houses ?—There is a greater quantity finds its way now into the houses than did in 1810. The whole quantity that came to the New River head was at that time distributed among a much larger number of tenants than it is now ?—It was. The same quantity of water, with better and more saving means of distribution, is now distributable among a less number of houses ; and, in point of fact, adverting to these questions, do you now consider the service to be better than it was then, in point of certainty and abundance ?—Very much better. Both in certainty and abundance ?—Yes. Do you consider it is better in respect to the means of safety afforded to the town in case of fire ?—I do. Plow?—The mains are at present all charged, which was not the case in 1810. In what quantity do you suppose the increase now exists over and above the' quantity that was supplied in i8lo ; in what larger proportion do you supply it now than you did in 1810 ?—I am not aware of the number of tenants the com- pany has. What quantity of water do you suppose is distributed How more than was in 1810 ni any given district ?—I am at a loss how to answer the question : the secretary V^^' E can](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2136557x_0023.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
