WATER, in consequence of its intimate connection with so many of the tastes, conveniences, and necessities of life, becomes a subject of universal and never-failing interest. Its position in the landscape as sea, lake, and running stream, affects the sense of beauty; to the eye of the naturalist engaged in classifying and describing the contents of the globe, it is a substance having numerous properties and relations; it is a grand example of the mechanical laws and gravitating power impressed upon all material things; and as an agent in the economy of the world, it enters largely into the operations of production and change. It is the highway of the world, the cheap defence of nations, the boundary of possessions, the element of existence to an immense living population. Lastly, it is an indispensable requisite and manifold convenience of the every-day life of human beings: alike to the uncivilised and civilised, to the roaming tribes of the wild, and the settled inhabitants of our crowded cities. The uses of water in daily life lead to the adoption of means for providing it in proper quantity, quality, and readiness to every place of human habitation; and among the various arts that make up our civilisation, this has a leading position of importance. Of late years, great improvements have been introduced into the department of the public water supply, and efforts continue to be made towards still farther improvements. Our object in the present Paper is to touch upon the chief points of information connected with the sources and qualities of water, and the public arrangements for the supply of town populations— restricting ourselves solely to the condition and requirements of our own country. No. 49. VOL. VII. 1 |