KARORI WATERWORKS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 145, 13 March 1908, Page 8

KARORI WATERWORKS.

THE NEW RESERVOIR. •OFFICIAL VISIT OF INSPECTION. Tho member? of the City Council, who, -together"'with tho heads, of tho various Corporation departments and representatives of . the Press, jaid an ■ offieihr visit of inspection to the new. reservoir at Karori -yesterday, could not slia'vo' been favoured with better woathor/for..their outing. Among thV party were tho Mayor (Hon. T. W.' Hislop), Councillors Murdoch, Smith, Morrah;-Cohen, and Hales, Mr: Tait (ActingTown Clerk), Mr.' Morton (City Engineer), Mr., Stuart Richardson (City Electrical Engineer), Mri O'Shea (City Solicitor), Mr. Ames (City Valuer), and' Mr. Collins (City Treasurer). :• ' Upon arrival at the old Karori Reservoir the visitors alighted, and, under/the guidance of Mr. Morton, set out' for tho now •' dam,?-', which,.'- isv situated in the same'''gully, 'but a little over half a mile further on. Native shrubs on one slope, and pines, miacrocarpa, and native shrubs on-tho other mako the gully a very - picturesque spot. After the party had been strolling along leisurely for a few minutes, tho huge concreto wall of t-ho_ new dam came into view.; An idea of the size of tho daM, which is , curved upstream to a radius of ,300 ft., may :be-gained when it:is stated that 15,000 cubic feet ,of concreto was used in its construction, and that its measurements aro as!follow:—Height/ above foundations, 75ft.; depth of foundations,'down to 20ft.; length, 320 ft.; width' at-base 48ft., harrowing to a little under oft. at the top. -In with the representative of The Dominion, tho Mayor and Mr. Morton observed--that , tho capacity of the new reservoir, the'contract price for which was about £25,000, was 63,000,000 gallons. The now 'resorvoir -which is to be '.constructed 'at Waiuui-brmata immediately , would hold over 100,000,000 gallons. Tlio various supplies 1 would, then bo sufficient until the population of the City and. suburbs rose to 80,000. . In order.to increase-.the storage capacity,'then, all that .it, wmild be neccssar.v:to!'do would I>3. to raise the 1 height of .tlio proposed.:,,now dam at "Wainui from, 150 ft! to '160 ft., which would give accommodation .|or an additional 00,000,000 gallons of water.,-It'was not possible to ill-', crease tlio height of the new dam at Karori. About 55,000 people wero supplied last year, the average daily consumption per.; capita being sixty gallons.,;' Now that tho Corporation .had' acquired air tho land at Karori which was irequiretl, for tho'.purposes of a c3fehmerit v area, the constant supply of unpolluted ' '..water was assured. In tho near, future' steps ' -lyould' be .taken 'to* plant .the slopes ; of . tho' gullifes above'tlio new dam with native, bush.'. At the present time. tlio level of tlio water in tho old reservoir at Karori wivs ,down 16ft. Ihjlow tho overflow. "If," obs<jn ; .ed tho Mayor, "tho new reservoir'at.. Karori had been full at tho beginning ;of tlio summer,-there would havo been* not 'tho 'slightest/occasion. for anxiety. '•. We would thon havo boen able to' supplement the supply from Waiiiui ,by a million gallons ,'pcr day for, say,' three moijths, because, in addition to tlio accumulated wat-er'(63,ooo,ooo'gal-lons)) there would havo been tlio' daily iiitako. ■As ■ the' shortage -from Wainui during tlio • worst ;period: of the drought was only : about half a million'gallons, tho supply would,, jt •will bo seen, havo been Sample. Then, again, |with the pressure direct from the new.rcsoryoir a .saving of the forco necessary to pump the water- ox-er 100 ft. will be effected at the pumping, station 'at Taitvillo in connection with ,tho ..supplies for Ke-lbiirne.'.' v -Upon -tho return' of the - party to' the old reservoir; light refreshments- .were partaken of: The ,Mayor, who presided, - proposed the health _bf tho contractors, Messrs. Mitchell and King.ln; so, doing, lie,remarked that it could lic-t bo .denied that -tho Corporation was quite; aliv.o to tlio ncosssity of making provision' for a plentiful supply of- water for household, firo, prevention, apd other uses. The' new!'dam-' reflected,:great ; credit,;,on Mr. Morton, ; tho engineer,- who '.conceived- the idea, and 'ori/ tho contractors, Messrs. Mitchell and' King, who had faithfully; carried out tho contract. Future generations of WelJingtbhians'would,' lie'felt'sure, find that the dam would stand firm for all time. (Ap.plauso.) ,- , :, ';i ... ... ,-. ,\s; .'. Mr;;Mitchell, in acknowledgment, on behalf of his partner, and himself, stated-' that they had, received', every ''assistance from' the : officers of the Corporation, particularly Mr. ! Morton, and "in return they (tho contrncjtors) had, given as little trouble as possible. Time would; they hoped,' establish that they ■ had carried out the work honestly and faithfully. It was very pleasiug at the .completion of an important undertaking to' receive such- high/compliments.. •' . . Councillor Smith thought tho | proceedings would not :,be;' complete unless v the health t>f 1 Mr; Morton, the! City Engineer,. was drunlc. Mr. Morton -was .to bo highly complimented on the,,way lie had carried out, this work.

Mr. Morton, in ireply, expressed thorhope 'that time/ would show, that tho .work bad ,proved satisfactory in > every.-way. Undertakings: of.' that nature he said,' al-' ;ways entered' upoii with a pertain amount of fear; Water was looked-. uj)on by engineers and contractors as' an' insidious enemy, 'and .it gave'him pleasure .to'"state that tho work had'so far withstood the pressure in (an eminently satisfactory manner. At pre-* .'sent there "was 35ft. of water in tile reservoir, : but there was "not tho slightest trace of soakage He believed that tho work would prove satisfactory in every way. (Applause.) . , / . . , . Tho''visitors:. then returned 'to the City. •'