Fire Fighting

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 98, 19 January 1933, Page 6 (Supplement)

Fire Fighting

Second Line of Defence

Napier Underground Water

LITRE and there in the New Napier the tide rises and falls beneath the busy streets of the town. This has been brought about by the provision of a unique emergency water supply for fire-fighting purposes, the installation of which has been one of the tasks accomplished by the present administration.

Napier is built partly on a bank of shingle extending from the beach in front of Marine Parade back as far as Ahuriri flats, and perhaps further. The strata formation is such that water from the sea percolates beneath the town, maintaining approximately the same level at every point in the business area.

It was not long after settlement began that the pioneers of Napier made the interesting discovery that by digging a well in almost any part of the foreshore (what is now the business portion of the town), one tapped sea water which flowed up vigorously through the gravel layer. Subsequently a move was made to improve the fire-fighting facilities of the day by digging six or seven wells at intervals through the town. No one seems to know who was responsible for this precaution, or whether the wells were ever used in time of emergency.

As time went on and the borough was reticulated with a water supply at a pressure suitable for fire-fighting, the wells were graduaDy forgotten by all but a few. Their coverings became