MT. PLEASANT WATER

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28179, 18 January 1957, Page 10

MT. PLEASANT WATER

RESIDENTS ADMIT EXCESS USE

Admissions that they had >een allowing water to run all light on the market gardens were obtained by the Heathcote County Council yesterday from : ome of the residents of upper Mount Pleasant and Monck’s Spur who earlier this week claimed that an inadequate service had reduced reserves to bare drinking and cooking requirements ana that baths, household washing, and irrigation were out of the question.

The Heathcote County Clerk (Mr R. W. Morris) said last evening that the draining of the upper reservoir had been brought about by abnormal demands in the recent hot weather; but no reasonable person would expect the system to stand crop watering on the scale which had apparently occurred.

The ’dry reservoir had permitted a ■ thorough check to be made ol its walls and the pipeline and no leakages were found, Mr Morris said. To cope with the emergency, an auxiliary pump of 800 gallons an hour capacity was brought into operation at the Belleview reservoir late yesterday. This would pump directly into the consumer line on the lower slopes while the main pump 'of 2000 gallons an hour) filled the upper reservoir. The full effects of this coupling would not be noticed for perhaps two days.

In the meantime, Mr Morris said, he had appealed to residents to exercise discretion in the use of water in their own interests.