CITY WATER SUPPLY

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 13, 16 January 1925, Page 7

CITY WATER SUPPLY

ORONGORONGO AFTER THE s ; \ ; FLOOD :rr:-'::' DELIVERY OF PIPES. • One result; of. the. heavy. December rains was that the character of the bed of the Orongorongo. Stream, was 'entirely altered, not as to direction, for the hillsides, are .so -steep and-the valley so narrow that there is room" for one bed only; but as to tie .composition of the bed. Before the flood;, an^'apparently as long as-most people who know the country remember, the river ran over and between,great water-worn rocks and boulders, but so great a quantity..: of small stuff-was brought down by ..the flood that the rough bed has practically ' disappeared beneath, a.deep .single carpet. This fine stuff is very welcome to the^ Corporation, as the concretine- of a I good length of the tunnel through to'- [ the Wainui Valley calls for big supplies - of sand.and^graveL.uNo, jianiage. was ! done at the, Orongorongo; intake, which was designed to scour clear in flood time Minor was done in the Wainui Valley through the shifting of the stream, but it is below the reservoirs As one of. the flood gates of the lower i reservoir was damaged: and refused to close,_ it was necessary to empty the reservoir completely to p make repairs i which, have now been completed., But - tor the fact that- an absolute guarantee ' was given, excepting as "to earthquakes and disasters.Hnspecified,-. by the pipe line laid through the tunnel from the Orongorongo- that there would be ample water to refill the reservoir, its emptying , in midsummer would have been a risky business; but, as ; it was. the wort b* undertaken as .a^ matter of course. »Ihe. Morton-dam'wasibriniful; - ' , ln" summer tune/ when We' Wateri works Department is not'at, all" sure ' • w°f. n the vex* rain is coming; every few ?j£S5» EaUons «>«nt when a city; of about 70 gallons per head has to be served. , .

; : STILL WATTING. , S° far n ° Pipes have been supplied by the contracting company for the . Orongorongo-Karori line, though delivery should commence shortly now. The company is now manufacturing 33-inch pipes for the Auckland City Council,- and is pushing on to completion "the erection of the special type of- press required for bending the steel, plates for-the 21-inch pipes for, the Wellington council. The Auckland pipes-are- built up of- two ' platesbentto semi-circles, but the press - whicii carries out this operation,, will not bend the plates to a full circle, - as required for the Wellington^con- ; tract. .■■"• ■''._'.■'.»:.■ •. . ■ 7: : , _ In regard to this matter, a correspon-• _ dent writes. accusing , the .Wellington council of "muddlement" in adopting-a ' policy which has resulted in' miles of water.and drainage reticulation- being v laid in jKarori and Orislow-, "as wefl ss' the construction, of service reservoirs. ' which/costly. work must lie" idle until ' the, Orongorongo-Karori . pipe line ii ; completed. . - -•■'-. • . ..;

The order in which the .several inter- ■ dependent works .have been put in band '" £ as 3'l3' bee? commented, on in "The T iroßt, but the impression that the conn- .-« led is.responsible for, the present Selav--^ in respect of the delivery of the pipes - is incorrect, though- allegations have"■ several times been made that an -initial delay of many months resulted from the ,councils not haying placed an order fdt ' the pipes earlier than it did. The pie-" sent, delay*, *ow. several months old, nas Jollowed upon the very late dcliv-:/ cry to the contracting company of tho special press referred to above from : Australw. _ The contract provides that -V there shall- be a; penalty of l;£20-per'>. week for. non-compliance with the conditwna agreed to Immediately: the pipes^ ar ft available • start will be made in " laying them, for about two miles of trenches are open in the.Wainui VaUey •'. " With regard to the drainage reticula- ' tionjuse is already being mads of this : service m the new. diitricts in parts New houses are ooupled'up and* cer-t-am number of older-hou.ee at K»rori have b*en co.nnect«d np M tegards household drainag. oth«r than lavatory connectioni, which cssnoi U made uatil