Birmingham is about to add a magnificent supply of pure
water to its other triumphs of municipal government, and on Tuesday a scheme suggested by the Water Committee was passed by the City Council, and will be presented to the approval of the ratepayers. Like Liverpool, Birmingham is going to Wales for its water. It proposes to buy the Rivers Elan and Claerwen, in Mid-Wales, some eighty miles from the Midland capital, rivers with a watershed some 46,000 acres in extent, and to form a great artificial lake. " The principal dam," says the Daily News of Wednesday, " will be built at Nant Gwilt, just below the confluence of the streams, at a height of 800 ft. above the sea." The lake thus con- structed will be over three miles in length, with an area of 497 acres, and a total capacity of 7,540 million gallons. " This is but one reservoir out of a possible five, not all of which, how- ever, will be wanted at the outset." The water will reach the town by nine miles of tunnel, thirty-five miles of " cut and cover " conduit, and thirty-five miles of iron pipes. The ultimate cost will be about £5,500,000, but only some £3,300,000 will have to be spent on the works which are needed to give all the water required at present. Wales has been always noted as one of the few mountain countries that do not abound in lakes. It looks as if the hand of man were going to be called in to redress the balance, and to give her a series of artificial Grasmeres and Derwentwaters.
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