POLLUTION COST

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32234, 28 February 1970, Page 12

POLLUTION COST

City Council Advice Air pollution costs each household in Christchurch $3O a year in cleaning and painting, according to a leaflet issued by the-. Qity Council’s public health department. The leaflet, which has been issued to give citizens time to consider heating systems before the winter, is the first in a series planned by the department. Smoke levels, says the leaflet, are 14 times higher in June than in January. Domestic fires cause 69 per cgnt of smoke and a domestic fire produces four times as much smoke an an efficient -facto® boiler. A range of heating costs during the winter is given. They range from $165 to $331 for an open coal Are, down to $lO9 to $l5l for a downdraught enclosed space heater. By burning lowsulphur fuel in efficient appliances, householders can save money, warm their homes better, and reduce pollution, the leaflet says. The leaflet was the first in a series to be issued by the department, Mr A. P. Millthorpe, the Chief Health Inpsector, said last evening. A larger brochure, being printed at present, would give much greater detail and. like the leaflet, would be available to anyone interested. The Clean Air Society congratulated the City Council on its move, said the society’s publicity officer (Mr P. V. Neary) yesterday. “This is a great day for us. The council is really getting into gear now,” he said.