Mr. Edward Easton, Dr. William Odling, and Mr. Thomas Page, examined.

Committee deliberate.

Motion made and question, "That the Chairman be requested to move The House that an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, to represent that, pending the inquiry before this Committee, it would be advisable to suspend the works on the Serpentine." (Sir John Shelley), put and agreed to.

[Adjourned to Monday, at Twelve o'clock.

The Chairman stated to the Committee that a proposition had been made by the First Commissioner of Works to Messrs. Bird, the contractors of the works of the Serpentine, to suspend some of the works, without prejudice to the contract, subject to his being compensated for any loss or damage he may suffer in consequence of such suspension.

Motion made and question, "That the resolution of this Committee of the 16th instant, be rescinded" (Lord Fermoy), put and agreed to.

Mr. Thomas Page, Mr. John Fowler, and Mr. Herbert Williams, examined.

Mr. Herbert Williams, Mr. George Worley, Mr. John Braithwaite, Dr. Arthur Hassall, and Mr. Robert Warrington, were severally examined.

Draft Report proposed by the Chairman read 1o, as follows:

"The sheet of water called the Serpentine is derived from the Ranelagh Brook, which, after springing from the Highgate Hills, ran along the Bayswater Valley through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, under the ancient Knightsbridge, into the Thames.

"The waters of this stream having been checked by the dam which was thrown across the lower end of the Serpentine in the reign of King William the Third, flowed into gravel pits and ponds which were adjacent to their channel, and occupied their present area in 1730. As population increased in the districts through which the brook passed, it lost its character of a brook, and became known as the Ranelagh Sewer. Its current had become so offensive in 1834, that an Act of Parliament was passed to divert it from the Serpentine through a covered channel, and since that period only the overflow in heavy or continuous rains has reached the Serpentine.

"The mud which has been accumulating for so many years covers the bottom to a thickness of nine feet in some places. It is a black and semi-fluid, containing a large proportion of decaying organic matter, and is very destructive to those who, by accidents in bathing, skating, or otherwise, are immersed in it.

"The foulness of the Serpentine, which renders it so unfit to be the place of recreation for the multitudes of all classes and from all places who flock to the Metropolis is attributable mainly to these causes: occasional admission of sewage, the contamination of the putrefying mud, the deposit of soot and other impurities of the London atmosphere, the results of bathing, and the stagnation of the water.

"Several plans and estimates have been submitted to the Government for remedying this evil condition. Sir John Rennie, in September 1848, proposed to remove the mud, and to obtain a supply of fresh water from the water companies, or from the Brent or Verulam; Mr. Mann proposed, in November 1848, to cover the mud with concrete in the manner in which he subsequently dealt with St. James's Lake in 1857. Messrs. Easton & Amos, in December 1848, proposed also to cover the mud with concrete, and they submitted another project, in April 1857, for supplying water to the Serpentine from a well in Duck Island. Mr. Hawksley was requested, on the 7th July 1859, to prepare the plan, which he submitted on the 15th of July, and which was adopted by the First Commissioner of Works. A sum of 17,000 7. was voted for its execution, and tenders were accepted on 25th November 1859.

"This plan was directed to purify the water by filtration, without dealing with the mud, and without any increase in the supply of fresh water. It aimed at removing the fibrous filaments of confervæ, the navicula, and others of the lower orders of aquatic vegetation, which produce a disagreeable appearance in the water, and imparts its green tinted opacity.

"This object was to be secured by causing the Serpentine to circulate perpetually through filter beds of sand, so that a 13th part of its whole bulk might pass daily through the filter during the six hottest months, a 16th during four of the colder months, leaving it to enjoy a rise during the remaining two months of the year.

"This plan was recommended for its efficiency and economy, as enabling a larger quantity of water to be purified in this way than by any other means, But against this plan it has been urged that, in comparison with other plans, its results will not be worth its cost, that the cleansing of filter beds close to public walks is likely to be offensive, and that it will become unnecessary whenever a copious supply of water is obtained.

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Although river water drunk in towns is commonly passed through filters of sand on its way to the houses to which it is distributed, and although filtration is also used to purify water for some manufactcries, yet no instance has been mentioned to us of its having been employed for the purpose of keeping a large body of water in a permanent state of purity, and we have received much evidence as to facts which might guide us in coming to a conclusion upon the probabilities of success which may attend such an experi

ment.

"In favour of the scheme, it is urged that if the vegetable organisms which impart a green tinted opacity to the water do not form at a rate which discolours two million gallons

a day, the process which restores whiteness and transparency to that quantity in every 24 hours, must ultimately render the whole of the Serpentine clear and pleasant to the sight. But, on the other hand, it may be doubted whether even in the event of the vegetation being extracted at a quicker rate than it is produced, the difference of the floating particles through the filtered water may not be so widely extended as to prevent the desired transparency before the end of the summer arrives, and whether the influence of the mud may not become more perceptible upon the purified water than upon that which is already loaded with matter in suspension. Though one-thirtieth part of the whole bulk of the lake be drawn into the conduit daily, no certainty can be attained that the water which enters the conduit will be the dirtiest, and not the cleanest portion, or that a thirtieth part of the floating impurities can generally be drawn into the conduit.

"Those aquatic organisms which grow in flotation, rise and fall with variations of atmospheric pressure, and the confervæ which grow on the soil, and have been detached by friction, cannot be always directed to the desired point. The experience derived from the works of the water companies, shows that the vegetable scum which is deposited on the filled beds, putrefies with great rapidity, when exposed to the air, and will become a nuisance unless great care be employed in its removal. The proposed filtration is not such as can remove any impurities held in solution; and, considering that the object in view is not only to provide an ornamental piece of water, but a bath in which many more than those who, in the present repulsive condition of the water, take 260,000 bathers yearly, may seek health and recreation, your Committee are of opinion that the old commonplace way of supplying a lake with fresh water, is preferable to the new and ingenious contrivance of refiltering continuously even a larger annual quantity than can be supplied from a well or a river. If a supply of fresh water sufficient not only to replace the waste, but to provide for a continual change, were impossible to be obtained, in the absence of another alternative, filtration might be justifiable; but your Committee have no reason to doubt that a copious supply may be obtained from the stratum of gravel underlying the metropolis, or from a deeper well, if necessary.

"Conflicting evidence has been given as to the quantity and quality of the water that can be pumped from the well in Duck Island; but the observations that have been made tend to the conclusion that the supply is practically inexhaustible since any very great. abstraction of moisture from the bed of gravel between Duck Island and the Thames would be supplied by percolation from the river when the tide is high; but Mr. Hawksley states in his evidence, that he entertains no doubt that a considerable supply of water can be procured in the neighbourhood of his works, and that an increased amount of water could be drawn into the Serpentine by an extension of the surface drainage of the Park. The amount of water which maintains the Serpentine and its level, and occasions a frequent overflow in addition to the rainfall and surface drainage, is obtained from the Chelsea Waterworks Company, under a contract, at an annual cost of above 300 7.; but after the contract has terminated, in 1862, the increased expense to which the Companies supplying London with drinking water have been put for its improvement, will double the cost of the amount supplied, and the Government will naturally seek for a cheaper source than the purchase of water which has been prepared at great expense for being drunk.

"We have had, however, a more embarrassing task than to decide merely whether Mr. Hawksley's plan is the best for effectually cleansing the Serpentine. We have had to consider whether that plan, recommended by great engineering authority, adopted by the Executive Government, sanctioned by Parliament, and nearly approaching its completion, is so unsatisfactory in its object and means that it ought to be arrested, even in its present stage of advancement, and the work which has been performed diverted to other purposes. After much patient investigation we have arrived reluctantly at the conclusion that the proposed filtration will not be effectual for the desired object; and that this cleansing process ought not to be carried on in one of the most beautiful spots of Kensington Gardens. We recommend, therefore, that the project of filtration be abandoned, and that the best available supply of fresh water be poured in, to such an extent as to produce some continual flow.

"The engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Works has informed us that that Board are about to commence works for the diversion of all sewage matter from the Serpentine, and that these works will be completed before the end of the summer. Whenever this object is attained, measures should be taken for rendering the bed of the lake clean and hard. We have not come to any conclusion as to the extent to which the mud ought to be removed, hardened, or covered, as to the relative merits of gravel or concrete as a covering, nor as to the expediency of burning it, nor as to the depth which would best promote the conveniency of bathers and the purity of the water; but we are of opinion that the present condition of the bed of the Serpentine absolutely requires amendment; and we recommend that a clean and hard bottom be laid down, at a depth increasing by regular gradations, provided this can be done at a cost not incommensurate with the important object of fitting the Serpentine for the recreation of the public, and rendering it worthy of the Royal Park in which it is situated."

Draft Report proposed by Mr. Locke read 1o, as follows:

"1. That the chief causes of complaint regarding the impurity of the water of the Serpentine are mainly due to the overflow of the Ranelagh Sewer, which during several periods

periods of the year brings down and deposits in the Serpentine large quantities of sewage

matter.

"2. That the water being partially charged, and always in contact with this deposit, has become impure, and gives rise to offensive exhalations.

"3. The only means heretofore adopted for correcting the evils arising from these impurities have been, the supply of a certain quantity of fresh water (obtained from springs in the lake itself), the rainfall and watershed, and a certain quantity from the Chelsea Water Company. These, however, have not been sufficient either for removing obnoxious exhalations, or for clearing the water of confervæ, and other vegetable productions; and, during the summer months of 1858 and 1859, a quantity of quick lime was thrown into the water, by which, for a time at least, the evils complained of were diminished.

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"4. A plan, however, was suggested by Mr. Hawksley for filtering the water in the Serpentine without dealing with the mud, by which it was expected that the vegetable productions, if not entirely disposed of, would be so far removed as to render the water, both as to taste and colour, perfectly unobjectionable.

"5. This scheme was sanctioned by Parliament last year, and a vote of 17,000 7. granted for it; and although the works have made considerable progress, they are, as yet, incomplete; and the results of the experiment, therefore, remain untested.

6. That in the evidence laid before this Committee doubts have been expressed as to the efficiency of this process of filtration, and suggestions have been made for dispensing with it altogether, and substituting for it a further supply of fresh water. It is contended, however, on the other hand, by Mr. Hawksley, who proposed the scheme, sustained by the evidence of Mr. Simpson, that notwithstanding this additional supply, the process of filtration will still be efficacious in clearing the water of confervæ and other vegetable productions which are constantly growing in it, and impart to it a green colouring not agreeable to the eye.

"7. After giving the most careful consideration to the evidence brought before them, your Committee believe that no scheme for purifying the Serpentine will be satisfactory which does not exclude the drainage or overflow of the Ranelagh or any other sewer, and which does not provide for the removal or covering of the mud now deposited in its bed.

"8. That the new bed of the Serpentine should be hard and sloping towards the centre, and care should be taken so to arrange it as to make it suitable, as far as may be, for the comfort and safety of bathers and skaters.

"9. Your Committee believe that a larger supply of fresh water may be obtained from the springs within or contiguous to the Serpentine from an enlargement of the watershed of the Park and Kensington Gardens, and from other sources which have been pointed out to the Committee. Some of these sources of supply may be obtained by means of simple gravitation, at a small expense; and, under these circumstances, your Committee do not recommend the plan of pumping water at Duck Island from the lower gravel bed at Westminster, several witnesses having expressed doubts both as to the fitness and sufficiency of this sonrce of supply.

"10. As regards the scheme of filtration, considering that no less than 14,000 l., out of the sum of 17,000 l. granted by Parliament, has already been expended, and seeing that it has been and is still recommended by high engineering authority, your Committee are of opinion that it should, at all events, have a fair trial, and for that purpose they recommend that the works already so far advanced should be completed.

"11. As to the precise depth of the Serpentine, your Committee have not obtained any satisfactory information, as this will probably depend on the condition of the mud when the water is drawn off; nor has any sufficiently accurate estimate been furnished of the probable cost of the works required for accomplishing the objects in view.”

Motion made and question proposed, "That the Draft Report proposed by the Chairman be read 2o, paragraph by paragraph:"-Amendment proposed, To leave out the word "Chairman," and insert "Mr. Locke." Question put, "That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the question."-The Committee divided:

And the numbers being equal, the Chairman gave his vote with the Ayes.

Draft Report proposed by the Chairman read 2o, paragraph by paragraph.

Paragraph 1 read, amended, and agreed to.

Paragraph 2 read. Amendments made.

Amendment proposed, At the end of the paragraph to add the following words: "This overflow is the main cause of the complaints which have been made of the state of the