Water Pumped Into Geyser On Lawn

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30279, 4 November 1963, Page 10

Water Pumped Into Geyser On Lawn

(N«w Zealand Press Aaaoeiahon)

ROTORUA. November 1. About IMS* getleos ef mM water were into * tan reywr «■ the front tewn ef • Jtoterue borne today to brier it under control Itto geyser is now “under reasonable control.” but is MaH capable at huridn< mud high into the air sod scotteeing spectator*. Accompanied by rumblings, the geyew erupted from the firorrt lawn of tile property owned by Mr W. V. Byrne in Whitaker street yesterday morning. Mr Byrne is in Australia. When the geyeer started to grow, the occupants of the house, Mr and Mrs R. M. Martin, decided to move to a safer piece. They booked in at a nearby motor camp. Within two hours of the first warning, an area about 20ft by 50ft was bubbling and spouting. A considerable quantity of mud was being thrown out. enough to form a small delta on the edge of Lake Rotorua, a few yards away. A large water pump on the lawn disappeared into the geyser. The garage, housing Mr Byrne’s two cars, was badly undermined but checked the erosion from spreading. There was water only 6ft from the veranda but the house did not appear to be in danger. A firm was hired to pump water from Lake Rotorua into the geyser to 000 l it down. An employee said today the geyser should be left to exhaust itself. “Utere is no use trying to control it now," he said.

A geyser formed in the same spot about 30 years ago and took a week to 000 l down.