In the latter part of the 1800's cities in England were after water from Wales; Birmingham and London to name just two.

                Their first choice may come as a surprise to some; it wasn't Elan and Claerwen water they were after, no, in fact, it was the water from the rivers Teme and Ithon. After several surveys by the powers that be were carried out London lost out to Birmingham on who got the water from the dams on the Elan and Claerwen.

 

Birmingham Daily Post - 11th April 1891

 

BIRMINGHAM WATER SUPPLY.

To the Editor of the DAILY POST

​

Sir,—More than twenty years ago, on June 14, 1870, in the journal you represent, were published in extension the details of a project laid by one of us (Mr. Hassard) before the Birmingham Corporation, then seeking information on the subject of obtaining by gravitation, as the first instalment of a larger scheme, a supply of 22,500,000 gallons daily of the purest water, having only 3 degrees of hardness, and containing but 5 and a half grains of solid matter per imperial gallon, from the head waters of the River Teme and its tributaries above Knighton, distant 58 miles from Birmingham, at a cost of £900,000, subsequently increased to £1,275,000. It was pointed out how this supply could easily be doubled in the future by incorporating with it the equally pure waters of the Ithon, situated to the westward of the River Teme, and distant only seven miles from it.  

                In 1874, Sir Robert  (then Mr.) Rawlinson was called in to advise on the whole question, and he, for some reason, passed over the adoption of a scheme the particulars of which were prepared for him by Messrs. Lawson and Mansergh, for obtaining water from the Rivers Elan and Claerwen, twenty-two miles further at no greater elevation, producing no better water, and necessitating very costly works. The Corporation, however then took no further steps as regards these gravitation schemes; but either that body or the Waterworks Company proceeded to carry out a pumping scheme for obtaining water from the River Blythe and Bourne, proposed to be superseded or abandoned; and we see by the public journals that the Corporation are now discussing the question of seeking powers in the next session of Parliament to appropriate the waters of the River waters of Elan and Claerwen for the supply of Birmingham at a cost of £4,000,000.

                As these rivers are included as sources in our project for supplying London with pure water from Mid Wales, and as your city can obtain equally pure water, as we have shown, much nearer home, and at much less cost, we submit, in the interests of both cities, that the whole question should be reopened. No doubt a supply of pure water by gravitation for Birmingham is much to be desired; but the metropolis is equally in want, with certainly equal claims, and we assert that from the Rivers Teme and Ithon districts a daily supply of 55,000,000 gallons of water can easily be procured for Birmingham, and that from these Welsh hills water enough is to be obtained, without clashing with each other's interests, both for the supply of the metropolis and of the Midland city.

​

HASSARD & TYRRELL, M.M. Inst. C.E.

Westminster Chambers,

London, April 9.

 

 

Birmingham Daily Post - 17 April 1891

THE CITY COUNCIL  AND THE WATER SUPPLY.

THE TEME AND ITHON VERSUS THE ELAN AND CLAERWEN.

​

                The report of the Water Committee of the City Council as to proposed additional works and sources of water supply, together with the speech of Alderman Sir Thomas Martineau in submitting it to the Council, have been printed for general circulation as a penny pamphlet. This has been done so that the scheme may go thoroughly before the rate-payers; and those who desire to be informed on the subject may obtain copies at Messrs. Cornish's, in New Street.

                It will be remembered that there appeared in our correspondence columns on Saturday a letter from Messrs. Hassard and Tyrrell, engineers, of Westminster, recalling the circumstance that Mr. Hassard in 1870 recommended report by Birmingham to the Rivers Teme and Ithon, and suggesting that as the Elan and Claerwen, which are a little more distant, are included as sources in their project for supplying London with pure water from Mid-Wales, Birmingham should leave the latter to the metropolis, and adopt the Teme and Ithon as their new sources.

                The Teme and Ithon are nearer to Birmingham by about fifteen miles than the district recommended by the Water Committee and their engineers; and as they may enlist some local support on the ground of their possibly entailing less expense, it may be interesting and useful to quote a few extracts from the reports bearing upon their suitability.

                In 1870 the Birmingham Waterworks Company were proposing to obtain powers over the Blythe and Bourne, and on June 14 of that year a paper by Mr. Richard Hassard appeared in the columns of the Daily  Post, and a copy of which had been sent to the Public Works Committee, in which he suggested that it would not be much more expensive, and as regards the quality of the water it would be far preferable to secure a supply from the River Tame, with the gathering ground of the Ithon, a little further westward, as an additional source in case of need. Mr. Hassard said :--

​

 "The source from which I propose in the first instance to take water is the River Teme, about five miles above Knighton. The drainage area is 36 square miles, or about 23,000 acres, varying in altitude from 750 to 1,800 feet above the sea. The entire district is bare mountain and hill pasture of the Silurian slate formation, free from peat, minerals, manufactories, and contamination of every kind. There are no water privileges of any consequence. The water is of the purest and softest, as the analysis of Mr. H. K. Bamber, F.C.S. will show; and great facilities exist in the valleys of the Teme and of its tributaries for the construction, at moderate cost, of large impounding reservoirs of sufficient capacity to utilise the water flowing off the district."

​

                From the rain-gauge records kept at Rhayader, Llanidloes and Presteign, Mr. Hassard estimated 39.38 inches as the mean rainfall of three consecutive dry years in the Teme Valley. Allowing for evaporation, he put this down as equivalent to a daily quantity of 38,812,500 gallons, supposing all the water to be impounded. Some of it, however, might possibly go to waste, and he assumed therefore 36,000,000 gallons daily as the reliable yield of the district for three successive years of drought. Of this about 9,000,000 gallons daily would be passed down the river as compensation, leaving 27,000,000 gallons as applicable for Government use. With regard to the Ithon district Mr. Hassard said :-

​

"Immediately adjacent to the drainage area of the River Teme , and to the westward of it, occurs the upper gathering ground of the River Ithon, having also a drainage area of 36 square miles, the altitude varying from 900 to 1,900 feet above the sea. This river produces unexceptionable water, as will be evident from the analysis, also by Mr. H. K. Bamber, F.C.S. The drainage area here is also bare mountain and hill pasture of the Silurian slate formation, and every facility exists for the construction of impounding reservoirs. The rainfall here will be greater than in the Teme Valley, and a further supply of 30,000,000 gallons daily for town use may be safely reckoned on as available from this district."

​

                In his estimate of the cost of the works to secure the first instalment of 22,500,000 gallons daily (but with the greater portion of the aqueduct constructed for the extended supply of 45,000,000 gallons), Mr. Hassard set down £120,960 for construction of reservoirs in the Teme valley, while the aqueduct, tunnelling, and piping were estimated at £566,940, and contingencies, professional charges, and interest brought up the total to £900,000. He also proposed the purchase of the water undertaking by the Corporation, he ventured to estimate that it might be acquired for £700,000. The circumstance that the terms which had to be paid were, upon a twenty-five years' capitalisation of the annuities, equal to a sum of £1,350,000, would indicate that Mr. Hassard's estimates of cost were what are sometimes spoken of as "rough”; indeed, a much larger figure was subsequently given by the highest authority on such matters.

                A few months later the Corporation employed Sir Robert Rawlinson, C. B. (then Mr. Rawlinson) to report on the question of the public and domestic supply of water to Birmingham. His report was in favour of resorting to Wales - indeed, to the same district of the Elan and Claerwen which are now recommended by Mr. Mansergh and Mr. Cray, and upon which in the meanwhile the London water engineers have cast an eager eye. His report, however, discussed a variety of other possible sources, and among them the Teme and the Ithon. The former river he had examined from Knighton to its source, and the latter from below Llandrindod to 1,100 feet above the sea. His report on them was in the following terms:-

​

"The Teme is the stream from which Mr. Hassard suggested that the water supply for Birmingham should be obtained. It has its sources on the south side of the ridge known as "Kerry Hill," along which runs the boundary of the counties of Montgomery and Radnor, the stream forming the boundary between these counties for several miles on its course to join the Severn at Worcester.

                This river (the Teme) is undoubtedly, being the nearest, the one that would first deserve attention in an exploration of the country for a source of water supply to Birmingham by gravitation; and, judging by the appearance of the published one-inch Ordnance map, this gathering ground seems to be all that is desirable. A walk along the course of the river, however, and a more perfect acquaintance with the district, do not confirm these impressions.

                Proceeding up the river from Knighton, the first place of sufficient elevation, and in other respects suitable for the construction of an impounding reservoir, is near a farm called "Coed-yr-hendre," at an elevation of about 730 feet above mean-tide level. Above this point, the area of the watershed is about 16,000 acres, a large proportion, however, being cultivated land of considerable value.

                As seen from the turnpike road, which runs along the valley, enclosed lands extend up to the hill-tops, and the area is dotted all over with farmhouses and buildings, and must have residing upon it a considerable population. A very small portion of this gathering-ground rises to a greater elevation than 1,600 feet above medium tide level. Such a watershed as that of the Tame is, however, greatly superior to anything that can be found in the neighbourhood of Birmingham, or even within many miles of it; but it is not of that unimpeachable character which a gathering-ground ought to possess when sought for at a distance of fifty or sixty miles from the town to be supplied.

                 The open pervious nature of the bed of the valley also presents a serious obstacle to the safe construction of the necessary works. For many miles along its course the river was absolutely dry during the past summer (1870). At the junction of the two streams above the village of Felindre probably three or four million gallons a day were running in the beginning of September last, but all along the site of the proposed reservoir there was not a drop of water to be seen. It might, therefore, prove to be a most expensive operation to make a reservoir to store water, under seventy or eighty feet head, on such a porous substrata. Not more than twenty million gallons per day could be relied on as obtainable for supply, after providing the necessary compensation water for the gathering-ground.

                Upon ascertaining these defects, exploration was continued the first of which, the Ithon, was carefully followed from Newbridge upwards. It is necessary to go some fifteen or twenty miles up this valley, which, in the lower part, does not rise rapidly, and a considerable distance beyond where the Clyweddog joins the Ithon, before the elevation is sufficient for the purposes required. There is a very good natural reservoir site about a mile and a half above where the Central Wales Railway crosses the river, near Pen-y-bont station, but it is at too low an elevation, and its construction would entail the submersion, and consequent destruction, of the rather important village of Llandewiystradenny.

                The next reservoir site is three miles higher up the stream, where the elevation of an embankment site above ordnance datum, is about 810ft. The watershed into this suggested reservoir has an area of about 20,400 acres, and on the whole its character is very favourable to the production of good water. It has, however, a large area of cultivated land, and is intersected by numerous roads, so that it would be only slightly superior, in those respects, to the gathering ground of the Tene.

                Mr. Rawlinson, in his report, went on to speak of the Elan and Claerwen, of which he said:-

"The gathering ground is very much superior to those before described, and in fact nothing better can be found in the country, nor could better be desired. It is almost utterly devoid of habitations, mines, and other sources of pollution, is almost totally uncultivated, has unusually little peat, and must, of necessity, produce a water of unquestionable quality. . . It is now a solitude, tenanted only by a few straggling flocks of sheep, and it may be centuries before it could be required by the increase of population for any other purpose."

​

                As regards cost, Mr. Rawlinson's estimates were : -

​

"To supply 40,000,000 gallons daily from the Teme and Ithon, £2,503,400. To supply 40,000,000 gallons daily from the Elan and Claerwen, £2,765,380."

​

                To supply only 20,000,000 gallons a day from the Teme he estimated that the cost would be £1,368,000. It is only necessary to add that Mr, Mansergh and Mr. Gray in their recent reports fully confirm the judgement of Mr. Rawlinson's in respecting the superiority of the Elan and Claerwen district.