54 
commercial year book of the 
A striking calculation has been made to indicate the advantages which Bristol enjoys 
in the matter of steamship fuel supply. Vessels can be bunkered with best Welsh coal 
at about half-a-crown per ton less at the port of Bristol than at Liverpool or Southampton. 
Thus a steamer taking 5,000 tons of coal per voyage would save approximately £625, 
and supposing she did twelve voyages in a year, this would equal £7,500 per annum, 
representing, if capitalised at 4 per cent., a sum of £187,000. 
PUBLIC SERVICES. 
WATER SUPPLY. 
The history of the Bristol Water Company dates from 1846, a period when Bristol 
was as notorious for its high death-rate as it has since become famous for its healthiness. 
Lack of an adequate water supply was one of the drawbacks of the increasing population. 
In earlier days, conduits or pipes in several parts of the ancient city supplemented the 
private wells, but the sources from which these public fountains derived their water were 
not always above suspicion, and an entry found by Mr. Latimer in a civic account shows 
how easily the water upon which a large section of the citizens relied might become polluted. 
The item of 1574 needs no comment:—“ Paid for taking three cats out of the Key pipe, 
where one was two yards long, live days, 5s. 6d.” As Bristol grew, the problem of water 
supply became more serious, and by the middle of the nineteenth century, although the 
science of bacteriology was unknown, there is little doubt that it would have led to the 
discovery that many of the supplies were potent for mischief. Drainage was primitive 
or absent; wells were sunk close to dwellings ; cholera was a repeated visitor, and its 
victims numerous. Several attempts to improve the water supply had had little effect, 
and it was not until the Bristol Water Company was formed that matters began to improve. 
In their early (years the Company had serious difficulties to face, but the ultimate 
outcome has been that Bristol possesses a supply so abundant that even during the 
protracted drought of 1911 there was no curtailment of the service and no restriction 
to its use. The Company derives most of its supply from the Mendip district, at distances 
varying from twelve to sixteen miles from Bristol. The newest and largest of the reservoirs 
enabling this constant service to be maintained under the most adverse conditions is at 
Blagdon. A picturesque valley has had a massive dam constructed across it, and above 
this barrier a magnificent lake has been formed. When the reservoir is full, the area 
on the surface of the water is 450 acres, while the capacity is no less than 1,770 million 
gallons. The watershed from which supplies are collected by this reservoir has an area 
of 5,300 acres, and, in order to secure freedom from contamination, special drainage treat 
ment works were established to serve villages in the valley. Flood-water discharges over 
a weir into the Yeo river, to which the Company is under the liability to deliver 
19 million gallons of water daily as compensation water. Important springs from Rickford 
and Langford contribute to the Blagdon supply, and from the fine pumping house near 
the reservoir the water is lifted to the height of a neighbouring hill, whence it flows in 
an aqueduct to Barrow, an elevated plateau overlooking the city, situated four or five 
miles from it. At Barrow there are three storage reservoirs with a total capacity of about 
800 million gallons, and numerous filter beds, from which the water flows by gravitation 
to Bristol. 
Other sources of the Company’s supply are from Chelvey pumping station, near the 
foot of the Mendip range, and springs brought from a considerable distance. 
The water consumption averages about 10 million gallons per day, or about 
23 gallons per head of the population served. The reliability and purity of this 
service has been unquestionably one of the factors contributing to Bristol’s high 
standard of health.