RE SHORTAGE OF WATER.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 30, 5 February 1900, Page 3

RE SHORTAGE OF WATER.

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —There is no valid reason why the inhabitants of this city should be inconvenienced by the annual recurrence pf being restricted in the use of water, and that when most needed for sanitary and health purposes. It is simply monstrous that in the face of i nip'd ly increasing population in city a td suburbs, and the large demand for | shipping, motive power, and other purposes, our City Fathers are so dilatory about obtaining- a supplementary or larger water supply, it has now become a matter of urgency' and of first importance. Do our city magnates seriously realise what would be the condition of a city of the dimensions of ours being Jeft without water, and are they prepared to face. the howl of indignation that would ] ■ eventuate in the case of being- landed j in a water famine? I think not. Then, i .why do we not at once proceed to prepare for such a contingency arising? Surely the experience passed through during the summer of '97 and '98 was a sufficient object lesson to us not to longer delay in this important | matter. The two large fires that occurred during the continued drought of that time made such a large demand on our city supply that the aggregate depth of 'water in the whole of the reservoirs after the second fh-e (wharf sheds) was less than 20in. Had this been followed by another fire of far less magnitude during the next 24 hoiirs the city would have been for a time at least without water. It ,is not at. all conmi.eijdable to our foresight that we should any longer take the risk of being placed in such a predicament, As a business transaction, and 1 from a paying point of view, the thing in itself is so good that one cannot understand what the City Fathers are halting about. If the usual reply is given, that there is no money, I must reply that such an answer is sheer nonsense —the so-called senior members of the Council, for some years past, have diverted the splendid profits derived from water sold into the General Account, to be frittered away for other purposes, thereby having no regard to the future requirements of a rapidly growing city. During the last financial year there was paid over the treasury counter little short of j £18,000 for" water sold—more than | half of this amount was clear profit, { enough in itself to finance and maintain any scheme b3 r gravitation for present and future requirements. The new Ma3 ror (from whom so much was expected) has been in office 14 months, and as yet no practical step has been taken in the direction indicated—nothing done but incessant talk, talk, talk; in, fact, we are as far from attaining the desired eiifl —a supplementary supply, as in the latter part of Mayor Dignan's term, when arrangements were made, and six miles of ldin water pipes, "now stored at Kyber Pass," were obtained for bringing in extra water from another direction than now contemplated. I firmly believe that nothing short of a water famine will bring home to us the need to bestir ourselves in this matter.■' We are proverbial for clilatoriness in ;fthis City, and "visitors from other parts of the colony are not slow to remark on th.c insanitary and dirty condition of our streets. We deserve all the censure bestowed upon us, because we will not move on—l am, etc., JOSEPH BECEOFT. Ponsonby.

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—A word about the city water supply. I can recollect a nice spring of clear, cold'water which 30 years ago used to flow into the old pond near the gaol. I think if a bore were put in at this spot it is quite possible the underground stream which flows through Seccombe's might be tapped and a large supply of good watei1 obtained which could be pumped into the TChybep Pass reservoir. To conserve the water supply there should be an inspection of taps. The taps in present use are not of a good kind, being- everlastingly out pf order through the swelling of the leather washer too much or not enough. I suppose there are few houses where there are not leaky taps. One cause for so much water being used this season is that so many new buildings take much water far making1 the mortar and wettingthe bricks. Salt water ought to be used at all times for watering the streets, for two reasons—it not only keeps damp longer, but helps to bind the metal.—l am, etc., F. E. HERBERT.