HUNTSBURY WATER SUPPLY.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19787, 27 November 1929, Page 17

HUNTSBURY WATER SUPPLY.

♦ CONFERENCE HELD. IMMEDIATE ACTION PROMISED. ["tie (!►!<". ;« ,11 '■•'• ••»!■■'.or »Uppi; Oil li'in"-i'tir-< iii'l *▼»'*•■ <iu« us»—i at joaie leng'h a: x .■■>n:>renee held a' the lleathf"-!"- ' *■•"■>';-* ''oaiieiri olT.'-e y.>terd?". w?ii '• •<"*» attended l>y memhers ~-" the I'nun:* «*ui:nril. representatives ~-" the Ilu;if.i.ury lii LI syn'!;ct:V. and a rustler »' r'«identK. A e..ni-iitteo of p.'vrenntat:v..'« .>f the • '-•ui.tv ' etin--i! a::d "' tho syjjdte.-it" v. at sot up to decide on what U to b» don. ir;!ti ; cdißt»ly T '- vrevent a re- „.,„,.„.,, „f ::•,■ m ■•■;.'- Moppage ,-.f supply. Mr -'. I l»anm. ■■«juut.v ehairnittii, |.-«» ; d. .1. and said that th« ohje.-t of t'.n- ■■•■>u e <• r>' r,-'» vro« to UUeUM tli'- matter m a toueiliatrtry tone and. if posarrive at an auu»al>!e understand Vjr ' . V. Hur-'M. en Ixdiall' .f tli« r.-*;.>!jt-. d»'»:reil to dispel the i.W-.i that th-T- wis ilf< ';V-i-<\".nZ 1.M»(,...|i flu; residentn and Mr K. H. I'.adKer, the re|.reient:i»ive of the syndicate. All •vere tkjio.ih to »ce tl- place go nli.-ad. J.i.t if there v.-a a net a pn.ptr water •upptv th<v cnu ! d Ji'jt ctpec* thar. Mr Badger complained that statemen:* made at •'"* County <'ounri!'n meeting had l»een allowed to go to the \'f*t in n riont unfair manmr. The •'h.ttrmaji *aid that no nabty re-i-isrK* were made and he regretted Mr remark*. Mr J. 15. I un.iigi:.-*!' . en l.rlmlf of tin nyndic.ite. i-oinplaiucd of inaecurate «ta'««'i)tent« having bTii repur{e>!. Mr Harvey remarked that ffoinp into ();«■„• i»;»tt>r* would not «01-. <: tlti- i|tje s . tie« «f their water supply. Th« tdirtinnau. in reply to Mr l"uninxhatn. ikai'l that the Couneil «as aik-d l»y the Huntstmry Itatepav its' A<iv.<ei.iii.*n fo tnke o»er the water supply; the t'«uufil"» letter on the subject wm to the AKiuriation. not to the srndirate. That wan pa.*t history and lie thought that they ought to hury the hateher n- far a< that w;i« enjiecrncij.

Mr llnrwv. If »h« f.yndi.'at<- r-j.)a<-.' th.< 1 inch pij>f with - inch pipp will th*> * otinctl lako over the v.ipptyT | Tho cUainiian: No. Is supply through ■ r- •_' itH-Ii pipf going to he auffb-icnt, in thf futur-. tor -"•" r.-sidmts* Mr t'Unilighatn: N'.'l w?- dytl't «i!gijpj.: t';at it wiU. Mr »'.irtcr. ih" t'ounty'« (.'asUmoro fomman, desorlbrd the present systpm |on Hnntabory Hill. The county supply ; wn+ by a .".-inrli main to the foot of the J Hi!!, thrn by a 1-inch main to a point S j ' chains uphill, irhcri» it was pumped into :i •_*-incti main to supply tour houses on \ tltf higher level, then hy 1-inch for S I c!i:;in9 to the juncture tvith a .-incij ! main to suply 21 houses. j The rhainuaii: Vou can only pet a i 1 inch supply even if you had a o'-inch ! main at the other end. Mr Hadjfr: Thut is so. Doit Mr ' C'artrr suggest that the l-im-h plpo is no I U.«!' .' Mr <":»rter: Vc». '■ Mr T. L. Jonp* < resident ■: That i proves, without S n '>ns any further, that

J the syndi'-ate is responsible fcr the i shortage of water. I Tins chairman: I -Jon't know whether ' that is «o or not. Let u* hear iJ " t!ie syndicate i* prepared to replace the 1:neh pipes by ".-inch. Mr t.'ur.iagharn aske,; tha* the con.- • ferer.ee should hear a stat-meni from Mr Badger. Mr F.~ SI. Christian . «;-ndicauv said that r- sid-nts would g'-t water every day if tl>*> County Council ga\e the pressure. Was it not a fact that the Cfi«hmrr>> reservoir got empty on Thursday moraiug and thct it was due : to that that the inconvenience 1o ; Huntsbury resident* wa« brought about: The chairman: N<-. Mr farter said that on Wednesday night they had a main blow out. and i.in Thursday morning there was a depth of about six inches in the reservoir: : but there was sufficient water at 9 1 i'*eb;.<:k neit morning to supplv everyI'Odv.

The chairman: A* long as therc_ is na'er in the main it is bound to find its !»-••. e!. Tli■- resvrv.jir was ever actually empty. Mr Badger made a lengthy statement traversing the history of the installation, which dated back to 1913. The crux of the matter, he said, "was the. allegation that the present supply, no matter what the cause, was inadequalc. Jt was to be expected that it would grow worse as more houses were connected; but when only one quarter, or one-third of the houses wor» connected the present position would not be expected to arise. Yet it had been .-•tated that tit- trouble had existed for three or four years. A resident: T ean prove that. I will have been there three years this Christinas.

Mr R.-.dger contended that because then- >.vas one day three or four years ago when the supply failed temporarily it was iso! due to auy inadequacy of the supply. From tile tin,(' th'-y had tb<- Mippiy f.oiii the county there had befn periodic occasions, in the hot h oaf her, owing to heavy withdrawal.* in Cashmere and la'er on Bowenvale, when the water had gone wrong, but that was ■ "f due to any fault in the construction of their pipe line. They contended that it «;;<« due to the absence of pressure from tin; Healhcote county supply. He quoted letters from the County Connc:l, starting on September 1-th, 1013, regarding the system the syndicate proposed to install. In October, 19-1, Mr Squires 'then c .unity engineer, or foreman t and Mr Cowper (then county clerl: i told the syndicate's contractor, after seeing the installation, that they wore very V-if i.-Jled with it. All along every step taken was taken after consultation with the County Council. After enumerating occasions when supply was u'natisfnet-'ry, Mr Hrviger said that the. troiibb-s hit*' due to the fact that pressure from the county reservoir Was erratic. He qootod opinions expressed by Vale and Co., and a report frOm Mr Harris, a hydraulic and electrical engineer. Mr IJadgor asserted that the syndicate spent £"T2oO to £1."00 in connexion with the water supply to Huntsbury rond. The chairman: You are the luckiest syndicate that ever promoted a sale that. I know of. (Laughter. - ) Mr Badger suggested certain steps that might be taken to ensure an uninterrupted supply, provided adequate pressure was given. Mr Carter: The biggest c.:rse of the Cashmere water supply is ton much pressure: it is l"i01b to the square, inch, and that is what you have at Hills road. When you have a pressure of l'lOlb to the square inch it is far too much for a house service. Mr A. S. Xicholla. representing tho residents, said that it was quite clear that the lin pipe was the whole trouble —that coupied with the fact that there, was no reservoir on Hnntsbury Hill to take the water supplied by gravitation, lie submitted that the syndicate had put up no constructive policy; had "been excusing themselves andolamiflg the County Council. He suggested that a comprehensive report should be obtained; he would want such a report before he took action. The. chairman: Let us hope that there will be no action! Mr N'iehoUs said he hoped there «ould not be one, but something would have to be done. It was to the syndicate's own interests to put things right seeing that they still had a number of sections to dispose of. The residents wanted some definite proposal. Mr Harvey: We want the water! There was a considerable amount of discussion. The chairman: Can't we come to some definite proposal! Mr Harvey: We want some definit* proposition. Our tempers will be rising directly! The chairman: Now. Mr Harvey! Mr Harvey: What is the syndicate going to do to help us? Mr Badger: As reasonable men we want to do what is reasonable and fair. We are not here to take advantage Of the situation. The chairman: We want you to state that you are going to do something in connexion with the water supply at present. Mr iNicholls: Of course I will see to that. (Laughter.) Mr Christian did not think there was any necessity for Mr Nichollfl to speak like that—it was only hot air! There was some more discussion. Mr Cuningham said that the syndicate was prepared to consider any report submitted by Mr Carter. The syndicate regretted that any of the consumers had been inconvenienced. "Anything we can reasonably do." he asserted, "we are going to reasonably do." He suggested that a committee of the Council should be appointed to meet a committee of the syndicate so that they could discus* the thing from every point of view with an eye to the future. The syndicate was prepared to discuss it from every angle so that the best cculd be done for the, people on the hill. The chairman expressed pleasure at Mr Cuningham's remarks, and said that the Council would be delighted to go into the matter with the syndicate. The residents could rest assured that the county would endeavour to come to sonic arrangement whereby they would get an adequate supply. Mr Nicholls conveyed the approval of the residents of the course proposed, but said that the matter could not be left indefinitely at this time of the year. The conference concluded, and it was arranged that the joint committee should vi'if the localifv.