PRECIOUS WATER.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 93, 13 January 1908, Page 6

PRECIOUS WATER.

BIG INCREASE IN CONSUMPTION. WAINUI JUST HOLDING ITS OWN. iWit'lh the. the dry:. 8pe)l, the v ■■' ■■■' ■■■'■ position of, Wellington's water supply b&t ' comos- increasingly ' serious. > >Tho Waibui reservoir was visited yesterday by tho City Engineer (Mr. W. H. Atorton) Vho'' states t|iat there is very littlo water indeed gtpg ' over the by-]vash) indicating ns plainly as ' possible that tho: dailyconsumption at pr&i'-. - , sent was-.just about equal to: tho . inflow; -. : , , With tho continuation of the dry weathorr.:'..-.-tho, tendency must bo lrl tho direotlon of* shrinkage in tho little Btrcam ,on', which I. Wollington- depcnds fco: largely-forits' water ; ,- i 'supply. ' > J | _ 1 . Mr. Morton states that a <yc!ar agovtba : v-,. .-..--i daily .consumption of .wotor . from . as: registered by tho Venturi meter, ° was > 1 about 2,700,000 gallons' per 'day.. . • Recent leadings show that the average daily coni sumption has leapt up to 5,200,000 gallons, '. hand, tho-tally, for Saturday l , was .3,300,000... I Hitherto; the flow of tho stream has bcoa | computed at: 3,000,000. gallons peri day; and . .it was'with some surprise fhat it was noted v, v • how the.''consumption-.had increased, this/• v. summer. .With tho .'.possibility-of a • shrink-., v :. age in the stream during a short dry spollj : v' and a rapidly-increasing population to servo-, (the service has been 'extended: quite to* ; : ■ . ceritly to Island.Bay, Kilbirnie, and Brook- < Iyn), Wellington ;will have to,~bo. looking' l ■ aboutfor another: source, of supply, for.-even. . if another dam is built :at Solomon's Knob ■ (ijclbove.ithe present .basin at-: Wamili)j ' it mould still be clependont,on ; tliel streapi that ( :•■ ■■. is now : diminishing', under the influence: of a ~ fow wcoks of dry weather. , •There is about 35ft. of water behind the : :■> new dam at Karon, but so far thiS water -.. tens not been' permitted to 'runinto-.the, Karori Reservoir, as the frator is rather dirty, which is quite natural; as the ground . . - has not previously been covered porman- r ■ emfcly with .-water: In the meantime . the Ktaiwri Reservoir is falling at the rate of two M Hihree inches a-dav.. - . . • ; . . : ■, ' There,is no talk, so■ far abbut cutting off ilie : water : for certain hours:■ durihg tho night (as may happen Inter) on account ol the risk of fire. , ( A WARNING!. PROMINENT PEOPLE PROSECUTED. The Chief Inspector (Mr. J. Doyle) bag issued a batch of 1 summonses on people for Jibing their gardens and grounds with unentered water. In most cases they hovo detected' using- tho water , nt,. night-.. tfoufc In addition to breaking this, by-laws, , ffwu peoplo are really inflicting a hardship , j istt residents of the'high levels whr look for att extra pressure in the- morning to . emiMe them to 'draw off supplies to tea them through the day, when the pros- r Mire is weak. Tliero has been a groat deal of tills sort of ihing: going on, and it is tho ■ Council's firm' intention; to prevent ,it by proscctition in\every caso detected. Those who liavo been served with, summonses ltw \ elude some of our best-known citizens. ,-