Page:On the Pollution of the Rivers of the Kingdom.djvu/40

34 and that at Leeds the entire volume of sewage of eight to ten million gallons per day passes into the Aire, as also that of Bradford, Keighley, and Skipton, and that the Calder receives all the sewage of Todmorden, Halifax, Huddersfield, Dewesbury, Wakefield, and of smaller towns, &c., &c., the Commissioners then declare—

"That the present gross abuse of the rivers we inspected may he in a great measure prevented, and in such manner and at such cost as to be beneficial to all parties."

And speaking of the woollen manufacture, they remark:

"In the two facts—first that in one year (1864) 384,000,000 pounds of wool were worked up into various tissues in Great Britain; and secondly, that every pound of this wool has to undergo operations necessitating the use of large volumes of water, and rendering that water foul and offensive, we have the history of all rivers on which that trade is located, and notably of the Aire and Calder."

And they add—

"That with very few exceptions the streams of the West Riding run with a liquid more resembling ink than water."

Referring to the tanneries at Leeds, the report states (page 35)—

"That as many as 2,750,000 hides were annually converted into leather in Leeds and its neighbourhood."

And at page 36, speaking of the pollution of the river by tanning refuse, the Commissioners say—

"We believe that the pollution of the river, which is undoubtedly very considerable from tanning refuse, may be prevented without injury to this very important industry" (the leather trade).

They then give a detailed description of the condition