THE CITY'S WATER SUPPLY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 122, 15 February 1908, Page 4

THE CITY'S WATER SUPPLY.

When, on January 14, wo were discussing the oppressive continuance of the dry' weather as a warning to the city to think seriously upou the watersupply jjroblemj we did not antictoatk

tliat a mnntli 'later the city would still be sweltering under the fierce lieat and the Wainui reservoir reduced to a level alarmingly low. Rain must come in abundance sooner or later, but we have no guarantee that a month liencc we shall not still be • chronicling blazing, rainless days, and putting on record some still more alarming figures respecting the reservoirs. Fitfulness is the essence of weather, and the meteorologists have shown" no reason why fitfulness may not also be an accident of climate. That we have never had a four-months' drought before does not mean that we may not have a still longer experience . now. The immediate situation, arid the prospects of the future, when Wellington has grown to the greatness foreshadowed by the current statistics of its progress, are matters for urgent consideration, We print in another column, some observations upon the second of these points by the City Engineer, and it will be gathered from, them that Mr. Morton take's a commendably long-sighted view of the position. What Melbourne and Sydney are doing we should be doing on a proportional scale,. and, it' is satisfactory to note that in the construction of the new 90,000,000 gallon dam at Wainui, the plans are drawn with an eye to the ultimate storage of 135,000,000 gallons. Mr. Morton ' advocates more than this, and no citizen of Wellington—a city that is a' permanent example of.tlie unwisdom of not building for a distant future^—should regard as too ambitious and too far-fetched the proposal that the city should acquire .water .rights over the Orongorongo valley. In the'meantime the immediate, situation has to ■be faced. The City Engineer has been given a certain limited authority to cut off certain water services, but- the time has arrived when prudence, really requires a general cutting-ofi; of supplies for several hours each day, Such a stoppage would impose upon householders the duty of drawing off supplies, and would ■ probably reduce , household (Waste by 50 per cent, at the least. A.gainst this gain must be set the inconvenience that would be caused to various industries requiring large quantities of water, and the danger of untimely fires. The city must not be left at-the mercy:' of-, fire, nor must its industries r be li ampered when • that can be avoided. The problem, then,: re'solyes itself into ' tlie '. stoppage of the household waste that Hs at the root of all the trouble. It is this problem which requires to be dealt with, and in no half-hearted fashion.-