§ MR. LABOUCHEREasked the President of the Local Government Board, Whether any steps have been taken to ensure that the effluent water discharged from the drainage works at Twickenham into the Thames is pure; and, if so, with what effect?
§ SIR CHARLES W. DILKESir, since Questions were asked on this subject last Session the district has been visited by myself, as well as by one of the Engineering Inspectors of the Board. It appeared that although works and machinery for treating the sewage by a chemical process had been provided, and were, in fact, all ready for use, no chemicals had ever been employed for the clarification of the sewage. The Board communicated with the local board, and reminded them that it was only on the understanding that the sewage would be 1044 treated either by application to land, or by chemical processes, that they had sanctioned the loans for the works, and urged them without delay to adopt measures for effectively purifying the sewage before its discharge into the river. The Board received on the 28th of February a communication from the Thames Conservators, in which it is stated that a sample of the effluent taken on the 25th of January was submitted to the analyst of the Conservators, and found by him to be—
Much better purified than the previous sample received by him in September last, but that it would be still further improved if it were more efficiently aerated in the settling tanks.The analyst, however, considered that no objection could be taken to the discharge into the river at the point where sewage is now discharged of an effluent similar in character to the sample.