TAKAPUNA WATER SUPPLY.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 188, 9 August 1924, Page 11

TAKAPUNA WATER SUPPLY.

AUGMENTING THE LAKE. A VITAL MATTER. I i The provision of an adequate water i ' supply for the boroughs across the harbour has Ion? been an urgent neceV 1 sity. b"ut it has become vital with t2c rapid progress of the four North Shore , 'boroughs that the augmentation of the I ■ present i-ource of supply. Lake Pupuke. : rannot bo postponed much longer, for j though this =nur'A has been sufficient to I sum I- water for domestic nurpo?es, ' and drainage in thp case of Devonort, much jrreatPr demand; -will he made on it now t'.iat Takapuna, is installing a j drainage «y?tem. The other boroughs j of Birkcnhead and Xorthcote. ton. harp j only delayed this community service i because of the lack of water. ] • In view of these rireumstanr-s and ; ! the tack of administrative power under j i-which the controlling hodr. the Lake j ' Takapuna Board of Control, is labou.-i ing. The. hill has been dra." cd. ; Once assured of this provision • the Board would hp in a position to | prosecute any solution for thp. angmen- j i tatinn nf the supply. Several altcrna- ; ■ tives have alrcadv been exploited, but : ' none of the suggested sources, un- : .fortunately, meet with the unqualified j approval of the Public Health Office, who=e officers have from time to time made bacteriological tests of sample* of water from the new sources. Certain , aspects of the bill seemed likely to prove controversial, but it is under-'----j stood that Devonport, the highest con-| J sumer, has compromised with the other j local bodies and one hurdle; h.i* thus been removed. However. I Taknnnna's engineer has recently | .investigated various catc-liment areas iin the district. apparently with ■ ilie oliiect of finding a source which would either render Takapnna independent or which would solve the question of augmenting the Lake supply. Just what success has attended recent borinsr tests it is a= vet rather premature I to say. Tt is believed that a source showing thp requisite volume of water I has been discovered, but this water will !of course have to satisfy the Kealtb officials as to its purity. Purely tentative tests show that from a br.cteriolojen'cal point of view it is satisfactory, but there is an excess of chemical substances. What effect, if any, Takapuna's "independence"' will have will he seen v.hen the bill comes before the House for discussion. There fire 'ndicaj tions that the member for Waitcmata will have no easy task in piloting the measure through the House. One of the oldest apprehensions about the Lake supply was that if the level : fell to that of the sea the water would become brackish. Geological test-, however, have removed this anxiety.