WATER SHORTAGE

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 119, 13 February 1935, Page 4

WATER SHORTAGE

Serious Position Exists in Upper Hutt The seriousness of the water shortage due to the continued dry spell was referred to at Friday night’s meeting of the Upper Hutt Borough Council and elaborated on in a statement by the Mayor, Mr. A. J. McCurdy, to "The Dominion” yesterday. The statement reads: “Though the previous mayor and council had expended some thousands of pounds of loan money in impounding, millions of gallons of water in a reservoir and in improving reticulation iii some parts of the borough, they had utterly failed to provide for delivery of the available water to the residents. Without storage other than the 50,000-gallon distributing tank put in under the LaingGleason scheme, the Sin. main was capable of delivering just as much water in 24 hours as it now does with a reservoir storing millions of gallons, Notwithstanding there being a, greater ‘head’ the probable increased pressure is nullified by the incrustations due to corrosion of mains are 22 years old. “Under a full ‘head’ Mr. Laing-Meason estimated the daily delivery of the Bin. main at 544,000 gallons per 24 hours, ami the flow of the creek itself sufficient for a population of 10,000 persons without storage. The borough population at the present time is'a little over 3700. Though the 24 hours’ Capacity of the Bin. main is, apart from incrustations, 544,000 gallons, it must be remembered that there is practically no ordinary draw-off between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., arid as the hourly-dis-charge is 22,666 gallons it follows that when the reservoir is full 158,000 gallons go over the spillway, or if not full are stored within the reservoir.

“The resolution of the previous council meeting permitting the use of the hose if held in the hand between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. has been flagrantly violated, two, three and even four sets of hose being used, unattended, throughout the night by many residents. The special eub-com-mittee (of"which the Mayor is convener) met last Wednesday. The pressure at the Upper Hutt Fire Station was 251 b. per square inch, as compared with 851 b. normal pressure. With an apparent ‘open slather’ of hosing after 10 p.m., a resultant drop of 30 inches was registered at the reservoir below the level of the spillway. On Thursday, though there was a rainfall in the district which caused the Hutt River to rise a couple of feet before . 9 a.m. on Friday, it was evident that the downpour of the previous afternoon and night took place principally in the Whiteman's and Mangaroa valleys’ watershed-, there being no trace of clay in the Hutt River, which would have been apparent had the rain fallen to any extent in the Akatarawa, Pakuratahi or Hutt River watersheds.

“The borough overseer reported only.a 2-inch increase in the reservoir on Friday morning, as compared with the previous day’s record. ■‘Having in mind that the reservoir is located in a gully with sloping sides, it is evident a draw-off of over half a million gallons per 24 hours (with a diminished inflow also) will bring the borough perilously close to a water famine within a fortnight, besides which the water in the lower depths of the reservoir may contain silt, various growths, and probably prove unpalatable. “The council unanimously resolved to prohibit the use of hose and other appliances for gardening, etc., and forbid the use of water for swimming-pools, fountains and the like, until further notice.” The Mayor announced that in view of the continuance of the dry spell he was making arrangements for pumping from wells or the Hutt river in case the water from the reservoir proved unsuitable for domestic use. The council approved of the suggestions he had made to the special sub-committee regarding alternative means of supply anu authorised the .Mayor and town clerk to take any action necessary to meet the situation.