WATER FOR CITY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXV, Issue 20, 25 January 1943, Page 3

WATER FOR CITY

THREAT OF SHORTAGE

ALL HOSING MAY BE STOPPED

After the reading of a report from •the City Engineer the City Council at its special meeting at midday gavel authority for the total prohibition of hosing, with or without meter, should conditions warrant that drastic step. Mr. Luke made it clear in his report that the difficulty is not one of actual" water shortage, for the outer reservoirs are full, but of the overtaxing of the mains, so that water cannot be got into the city area. If wasteful use continues certain of the higher level suburbs will go seriously short of water. "Some difficulty has been experienced during the recent spell of dry weather in maintaining pressures and i supplies to the higher gravitational areas of the city from Karori reservoir, and before the weekend both reservoirs were appreciably drawn down. The demand in the city this year has been greater, than usual due to a large extent to the requirements of water for naval shipping and for military camps inside and outside the city for our own and the American forces," Mr. Lake stated. He recalled the earlier warnings that hoses must not be used unless meters were installed, but stated that hosing still.made up a large portion of the increased demand, and recommended that in the event of another dry spell the council should give authority for the prohibition of all hosing and such other steps as might be necessary to conserve water. Though the weekend rain had improved the position, it was unlikely that the benefit would be more than transitory if hot weather followed. . "So far this summer the rainfall in the watershed areas has been in excess of that experienced in the city, and at the present time there is ample water in the streams to serve the Orongorongo system and to maintain storage at Wainui," the report added. "The difficulty is only one of bringing water from the headworks into the city with the restricted main capacity available, necessitating heavy demands on the storage at Karori."