OVERFLOWING

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 206, 1 September 1942, Page 4

OVERFLOWING

DAMS ON THE RANGES WATER SUPPLY PROSPECTS With normal weather and ordinary care on the part of consumers there Bhould be no misgivings concerning the Auckland water supply during the coming summer. The city waterworks engineer, Mr. A. D. Mead, said to-day that following recent rain, the four dams on the Waitakere Ranges were overflowing, the total storage being 1569 million gallons. The largest amount was in the Huia dam, which holds 536 million gallons. This year the dams have filled more slowly than in some previous y«jars. The recorded rainfall for the eight months' period, November to June inclusive, was 17.8 inches, whereas the average is 27.7 inches. Since June of this year, there has been considerable rain on the ranges.

Mr. Mead said there was an increasing demand on the city water supply. Last summer the record peak of 16,900,000 gallons was reached on one day. Next summer approximately a million gallons would possibly be required daily for North Shore requirement, nad there was a steadily increasing consumption in the Westfleld industrial area. Two operations now being carried out by tne city waterworks department were the laying of a pipe-line from the Waitakere filters to serve the North Shore areas, and thn laving of an additional pipe-line to WestJ^ld.