SHIPPING FACTOR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 234, 3 October 1935, Page 9

SHIPPING FACTOR.

HARBOUR SEWAGE.

DEVONPORT'S ATTITUDE. REPLY TO HARBOUR BOARD. Some exception has been taken by the Devonport Borough Council to statements reported to have been made by the Auckland Harbour Board in which it was • inferred that the North Shore boroughs were the greatest contributors of crude sewage to the waters of the harbour. The matter was the subject of a report to the council last night. The report, which was adopted, stated that the council deprecated statements made about Devonport's outfalls without reference to the amount of crude sewage which must be discharged into the harbour from vessels in the stream and at the wharves. Another factor was the many passengers who used the ferries daily, and the large number of workers on wharves and ships.

"The council is of opinion that the greater amount of crude sewage is contributed by shipping than from Devonport's outfall at North Head. It would be pointed out that at least 75 per cent of Devonport's sewage goes through rotary pumps before discharge into the harbour, and that after this treatment it is equivalent to screened sewage. The council h'as systematically observed its beaches for signs of pollution and has done all possible to obviate any nuisance. It can safely be said that no sewage discharge from Devonport pollutes the shores on the south side of the harbour; but from observations taken on the beaches and consideration of the prevailing winds it can be said that the North Shore beaches suffer from the discharge of sewage from shipping."