Temporary Water Pipe Line To Bluff Completed

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29182, 18 April 1960, Page 13

Temporary Water Pipe Line To Bluff Completed

(New Zealand Press Association)

INVERCARGILL, April 17.

At 7.5 p.m. on Saturday, two electric pumps were switched on and the Bluff water mains started being filled with Branxbolme water. This was the culmination of many weeks of hard work to end the water shortage. The temporary supply starts with a two-mile length of fire hose from a pump at Greenpoint This hose was laid on Thursday by members of the Invercargill Fire Brigade and is on loan from the Invercargill and Dunedin Fire Boards. At Ocean Beach, the hose is connected into the permanent pipe line being laid by the borough council, at a point near where the permanent pumping station will be. A second pump boosts the pressure to equal that in the Bluff mains—l4olb per square inch. A 24-hour supply is now being maintained and there should be sufficient water in the mains to supply most of Bluff’s needs, but it is still necessary to conserve supplies to keep the pressure on the pumps at a minimum. The pumps have not been manned overnight, but the Town [Clerk (Mr T. R. McFarlane)

visited them early in their first night's operation. The water committee of the council also gave up Its week-end holiday to make sure the connexion went smoothly.

The council’s works staff has been busy seven days a week to construct the permanent line, as has the contractor to the council, Mr T. J. Clearwater. At times they have struck very hard going, so hard that blasting was necessary. For every 250 ft of the pipe line, an average of 2ft of rock had to be penetrated. The eight temporary tanks which have been mounted on Army lorries can now be returned and the Army lorries, which rendered fine assistance in an emergency, can now be released. Tlie Town Clerk said that the lay-out of the pump house had now been received and tenders could be called for erecting the building. With the arrival of the pipes from Italy next month, the bridging of the temporary gap can be completed, and it should not be many months now before Bluff can say “goodbye” to water shortage for ever. .