CITY WATER SUPPLY.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 11806, 2 February 1904, Page 5

CITY WATER SUPPLY.

MEETING AT ST. ALBANS.

THE SCHEME APPROVED.

About fifty St. Albans ratepayer* «t----tended a meeting last nighb ia St. Matthew* •eboolroom, vrben matters in connection with the City Council's proposed water supply were discussed. The Mayor (Hon. Henry P. Wigram) . presided, aad there were with him on the platform Cr». Lcughnan and Hadfield, the City Surveyor (Mr A. Dudley Dobeon), and the Town Clerk (Mr H. R> Smith).

The Mayor at* ted that it had been deemed advisable io hold meetings to give the ratepayer of all the ward* an opportunity of diecuseing the tclteme, and asking questions on it. He had received letters of apology from tbo Councillore representing St. Albons—Messrs Neate and Carey—who were unablo to be present. Cr. Keate in his letter hoped tlio ratepayers of St. Albun* would assist in getting thi scheme corritxl, as it was »eoea«uy for t!w> welfare of the city. Hi» Worslup said h« did not intend to cover the whole of the scheme, but would d«al with two points only. Referring to the fear expressed by some that the City Council's proposed well would rob existing welle, h# Raid that as for as he hod be«n able to ascertain, the overaste number of wella punk in the city and vicinity was fully 300 per annum. Mr Danks, who was an expert in well-sinking, had assured him that that was the annual average, whilst. Mr Osborne, another •nell-sinker, hod informed him that last year he had put down eixtyt>\x wells, the- flow from which was 2300 gallons per minute. The flow from the Council's well would not exceed 83A gallons per minute. It seemed to him absurd that private wells would bo affected by the sinking of the CounciTr well ac compared with the number of welle rank yearly by private persons. With a water supply the necessity for sinking private wells" would be removed. He estimated that private persons epent about £10.000 in sinking wclb and purchasing appliances connected therewith, and every w«H sunk robbed others in tlw vicinity. Speakinrr of the contention that the Waimakariri ■was the natural swurce of a water supply for this city, lie pointed out that the interest on the cost of the seventeen miles of mains necessary, would be more than the cost of pumping. The artesian water was the best for all purposes, whilst the Waimakariri water would only be suitable for. sanitary and street-watering purposes, unless it was filtered.

Cr. Hadfield moved "That this meeting approves of tko water supply scheme as proposed by the City Council." He went fully into the scheme. Regarding the saving on fire insurance premiums he said that the reduction would amount to from 8 per cent, to 10 per oent. on those at present paid. He pointed out that if the present scheme was thrown out the Council would soon have to meat a large expenditure in ein-kiug deep wells to provide water lor atreet-watering purposes. Of the fourteen wella sunk by the Council in the past, only about seven were now effective. At almost every Council meeting they had communications asking why certain, streets were not watered, and the reason was, of course, that the co3t of carting water a long distance was beyond the Council. Hβ pointed out, in conclusion, that the members of the present Council had, before election, pledged themselves to a high pressure water supply scheme. The Rev. J. J. Eodgere seconded the motion pro forma.

Mr Chaplin asked what had been the result of the experiment with the, well in Victoria street? He understood that it was undertaken to disprove the idea that the sinking of the proposed well would affect surrounding wells. The Mayor said the experiment had not "bsen undertaken for the purpose stated by Mr Chaplin. What was done was to attempt to pump from a six-inch well in ordw to set? what effect ib would hare on the wells around. There hod been no result from the experiment, a» the well became choked with shingle. They had been warned that something of the kind would happen, but they had been informed br- Mr Cyrus Williams that there was a chance of getting reliable information by this means. '

In reply to a ratepayer, hit Worship said it would bo impossible to guarantee that the Council's proposed well would not be interfered with by earthquake* or volcanic action.

Mr Dobron said that there was no doubt that there was sufficient supply obtainable at the. bottom of the hille.

A ratepayer expressed the opinion that there was no reaeon why the scheme should not be undertaken at once.

Another ratepayer eaid the work was one of necessity, and would hare to be done ultimately. He anticipated that opposition would come from tie owners of private water supplies. He thought the scheme might be popularised if some method were devised whereby owners of unoccupied sections should bear a fair proportion of the co3t. ,

The Rev. Mr Rodgehj juked" if it woe not a fact that the first instalment of the scheme did not affect the greater portion of St. Albans.

The Mayor,said that wae so, but that St. Albana would have a great dccl to say with regard to the allocation of the second loan. In reply to Mr Bidmeade, the Town Clerk said the sinking fund 'would be placed in the hands of Commissioners, and the Council would have noi control over it. Mr Chaplin moved, as an amendment— "That in the opinion of this meeting the J scheme proposed is of such an experimental nature na not to warrant its support." iHe characterised the scheme as a "tiapot" one, designed to benefit the big buildings in the centre of the city. He contended that the ratepayer had the Waimakariri ac the source of supply before them when candidates wen> atked to support a high pressure water supply scheme. A ratepayer seconded the amendment. Mr C. Allison dealt at some knjrth •with tho objections to the .scheme. He referred to a scheme proposed by the City Surveyor about eighteen months ago, under which ib was proposed to eink a deep well in the centre of the city. Mr Allison contended that that scheme was more economical than the present one, and would not dcleteriously affect the owners of private wells. The" present scheme wa* experimental, and he stated that where pemping from shallow wells had been tried the flow from wells in the vicinity hod been considerably reduced. He warned St. Albana ratepayers, especially those in the outskirts, that they might have a repetition of their experience over the .drainage ■eheme in connection with the water echenv.

Cr. Loughnan spoke in favour of the scheme, and pointed out that speakers who had referred to the Waimakariri had evidently confused the electrical energy scheme with the water supply scheme. Tim Act in connection with thp" electrical scheme provided that ihe> water wo« to be returned to the rivw. He contended that the scheme now before tho ratepayers was more economical than one with the Waimakariri as the source of the supplyThe amendment was then pat, and lootby 9 votes to 7. The motion was agreed to.

TO THE EOtrOB Of TH« PBBS9.

Sir, —If your patience is not already exhausted, I would like to say a few word* about, this bantling, that the Mayor is bestowing such parental care and attention on, and. which be i> m> anxious for as to adopt, and cherish for thirty yean. To tempt us, he tells us that this baby water scheme will be eelf-jnipporting; of cours* it will, all babies are good suckers, and it will draw water rates out of our pocket* for the next thirty *. years if we adoptit. But £50,000 won't pot it on its feet. We trill hare to find another £109,000 before this child could «yen crawl. ilaay at vm ratepayer* at* very old pw<

ent« of loans, and *<mie of a* hive wd recolfectfons of adapting a similar bantling about thirty years ago, whin we were p«K mised a complete sewerage system for £50,000; but Tve never gob it, and for thirty years we h»ve paid that *»te, : «»d got absolutely nothing for it, tad so it will bo with this water scheme. / .

The Mayor t*lk us that thie water scheme is required for fire prevention purposes. Thie might appear feasible to a non-disoarning publio, but to anyone with s> practical knowledge of the subject it won't go down. Sorely he b*a changed his opinion since witucscfcig thai grand water display mode in front of his residence a few nights ago. Now, the Council propose (if the money will gu that far) to reticulate only Aj,, portico of the ventre of the city. Ibis is just the part that is already beet provided with water, and the services of the fire plant. I have had over thirty years" practical experience of firs prevention. I nave been in all the principal towns in Now Zealand and .Australia, and I cm* say without fear of contradiction, that there is hot another town of ita *iio this side of the line that ie so well equipped with fire prevention appliances as this flat City of the Plains Jα. Thb is no idle talk. I know what lam speaking about. We have four steamers capable of throwing over 2000 gallons of water, a minute; mc have three chemical engines that would be used just, the same, even if we had a liigh-pressnre water service, and there is a hand enguw j that should be giving a better account of ! itself than it has been doing for many j yean p&st. And there is a superabundance of water running to waste past ocr i doors every day, but our wise-heads dou't seem to know how to utilise it. All we want is a lot more underground tanks in the city and suburbs, and the brigades reorganised, and with proper management i this city has nothing to fear. Aα for our domestic supply, we desire no change. Fully 95 per cent, of the ratepayers have spent various sums, many of us large amount*, in providing ourselves with a pure and efficient service, and we very much object to be compelled to con-, tribute) to what will be undoubtedly a very expensive aervioe, aad what we have not aeked for and do not want; and I do hope that the ratepayers will roll up in full force and vote agabast this proposal, and show the Council that it was their duty to have first ask«d us whether we wanted a high-pressure eervice or not before they attempted to force one upon v*.—Yours, etc, EX-FIREMAN.