NEWMARKET'S WATER SUPPLY

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 252, 22 October 1907, Page 4

NEWMARKET'S WATER SUPPLY

' Some misunderstanding appears to exist as to the cause of the deficiency of pressure in the water supply at the recent fire at Messrs. Wick and Sons' mill, Newmarket, At the-meeting of the Newmarket Borough Council on 7th ult. the want of. pressure was ascribed tothe state of the Mt. Eden reservoir; but a,report from the city water works engineer puts a rather different complexion on the matter. He states that when the water supply was installed in Newmarket, the borough authorities stated they would never require the heavy pressure from Mt v Edfn> arid, consequently, no connection, was iriade " between their mains arid the Mt. Eden reservoir. During, the progress of the fire, several telephone messages were •' received from. asking for Mt. Eden pressure, but, for want of the connection, this could not be given,. i and .', as the only means available ■was to pump direct into, their mains- .(which, except in cases of emergency, should never be attempted) the water Syprks engineer offered to have steam raised and. the pumps started at/their risk. They thought it best, however, to try. to cope with the fire with the ordinary pressure, which should have been sufficient if the capacity of the. main, had been such as to warrant a good number of leads being taken oft it. ...

At the meeting "of the Newmarket Borough Council last night, Mr. Davis referred to the strictures made in, the Press reports of the recent fire. He said he, had been informed that - the Mil' Eden reservoir supply was riot available. If that was the case, it was '■ a very serious matter. In' justice to the fire brigade, who give their time arid invaluable attention J to duty in protecting residents against fire, it was' only right that the reflections made upon them should be dispelled, as they were entirely unmerited. The brigade 'turned out promptly, and worked like .'Britons, every man of them. The secretary ' said the Mt. Eden Station had been' communicated with by telephone from the turncock's office, arid a reply was received that the water supply was not available.

In reference to the statements made at last night's iheetiiig of the 'Borough Council, the -waterwroks engineer also denies that the reservoir : was empty, or that he sent a message stating that- it iwould .take hours to fill. He asserts that his ■ reply to the application for Mount Eden pressure was to the effect that there was no provison made for doing so, except by pumping into , ,the mains, and that it would take an hour , to get up steam. After he had instructed' a man to light the fires, the turncock telephoned not to pump. On no -previous (occasion had the pressure ever ■ been asked for, and on .the one occasion on which it was used, through' a break in the Khyber main, were received as to the number of breakages in the service, owing to the heavy head •of water. -.•'.' .': -. . • -. s s'tt: