The Thames Valley below Teddington is much exercised in mind
as to the foul and unhealthy sewage mud which, ever since the construction of the Thames Embankment, and the consequent in- crease of the scour of the river, the tide has brought up from London, and deposited, sometimes to the depth of an inch and a half in a single tide, on the various flights of steps which the Conservancy Board have formed on the towing-path above Rich- mond Bridge. The evil, of course, affects not only the Thames- Valley residents, but the London excursionists, whose enjoyment is spoiled and health threatened by this foul deposit. The evil is partly due not only to the Embankment and the increased scour of the river, but to the lowness of the water caused by the new Water Companies, who pay the Conservancy Board a great re- venue, which, however, the Board say they are bound by Act of Parliament to spend on the river above Staines. Of course, the only efficient remedy would be the construction of another lock and weir, say in the neighbourhood of Brentford, but for this the Conservancy Board cannot at present apply its resources. A new Act of Parliament should be applied for, admitting the dwellers on the river below Staines to a certain portion of the advantages of the Water Companies' revenue, since assuredly they share seriously in the disadvantages.
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