30 JULY 1921, Page 3

The condition of the Thames may be gauged by the

following facts. This time last year the average daily flow of water aver Teddington Weir was 1,210,000,000 gallons. On Wednes- day last it was stated to have been 33,000,000 gallons, and. even this scanty margin was reached only by maeipulating the locks and other devices. The River Lea is still lower than the Thames, and the Chadwell spring wbich normally supplies the New River with a million gallons a day has virtually dried up. But we depend upon the Thames and the Lea to supply those great engineering triumphs the riverine reservoirs of the London Water Board. It is evident that our storage capacity is not sufficient to meet an exceptional shortage.