LEE STREAM.

Evening Star, Issue 17312, 27 March 1920, Page 2

LEE STREAM.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—Mr M'Gurdie's statement in your contemporary that Dunedin is using five million gallons daily shows that something is wrong. As the population in the reticulated'area is 65,000, it means that each person uses 80 gallons of water daily. This Is a very, high average. The Invercargill average per head is 42 gallons, and in the big cities of England the rate is from 40 to 56 gallons daily. It is peculiar that Dunedin has such a high average, I, for one, doubt if such is the case.

That the extremely low pressure in Roslyn and on the Flat is caused by a shortage of water is probably correct, but the shortage is caused by fee deliberate waste of water, as was pointed out in a previous letter of mine. Water was bang ! nour&d back into the Leith. and, until my | letter appeared, down the Serpentine i sawer, and_ down into the Kaikorai dams. The City is suffering for want of water! Yes, the water that is wasted—enough for twice tho population. As to the statement that there is no site for a reservoir of sufficient size, what about the site next to Sullivan's Dam? Also what about enlarging Sullivan's Dam? The statement that there is not enough water to pipe tho Silverstream race is ridioulous. About two and a-half million gallons enter the race daily, and to say that Silverstream fails us in drv weather is utter nonsense. AH Dimcdiii'"s water supply is obtained from Swampy Mountain—the Waitati-Leith supplies f r|om the east side, and the Silverstream from the west side. What the Silverstream fathers from the peaks is a comparatively small quantity, and to maintain that the swamps on one side of the mountain dry up and do not on the other is as ridiculous as it is untrue. The Silverstream is the wetter side of Swampy. American races may lose 5 per cent, of water through leakage; but the Silverstream race loses 75 per cent., not 2£, as Mr M'Curdie states. For instance, two and a-half million gallons daily enter the race; only one million reaches the reser voir (official statement). A lobster caused a leak! Very likely; only one more to the hundreds of similar cases. I havo seen men with their hands in an awful state from lobster bites obtained while endeavoring to stop leaks in the race. The earnest desire to make the most of every drop of water available is a noble one, could wo but believe it, when we know that the Silverstream supply could be more than doubled if gone about in the rnrht way, at a comparatively low cost. Ferguson's Creek can yield not less than a quarter of a million gallons daily. The Leith, that supplied Dunedin- before the Sullivan dam was built, is going to waste, and the secret overflow below Sullivan's dam could be stopped and the water saved if the engineering defect is remedied. As to the statement that a dam can be built at Lee Stream to hold 250 million gallons at a cost of £4.000, it is absurd. The engineer and councillors always maintain that Dr Champtaloup's report states that the Lee water is pure. This is not so. Here is a quotation from the rejport: "That sewerage enters the stream is abundantly 'proven in the analysis." The Lee Stream is of a dark color, and tastes decidedly of the peat bogs in which it rises. Ansrling competitions have been abandoned owing to the discoloring of the stream. Water not fit to fish in, yet fit to drink! Think, ratepayers, think! I Fishermen visiting the Lee "always 'go to | the little side creeks to fill and boil the i billv.

Dealing with the circular issued by the Mayor and Town Clerk : The first statement to deal with is No. 5 on the list, where it is stated that the council have been criticised, on the assumption that a less costly scheme is possible. They go nap on Mr Hay's favorable Report on the Lee Stream. Admitting that Mr Hay is a first-rate engineer, against his opinion we have the firm belief of such engineers as Mr Mirams, Mr Barr, Mr Reynolds, and Mr Slinger. Also, Mr Hay was asked to report on the Dunedin wafer supply—i.e., to report on Mr M'Curdie's recommendations. Mr M'Ourdie would have been placed in a peculiar position if- Mr Hay's report did not coincide with his. Statement No. 6 on the circular cives the impression that the Roslyn and Mofnington reservoirs are to be supplied from, the Lea Stream. If this is so, then the City Engineer has solved the problem of water running up-hill', as these reservoirs are at a higher level than the Lee Stream outlet. The water, wo are told, is going to be delivered to the Roslyn reservoir, to be treated, to any degree of purity. It is not stated in what way the water will be treated. Doss not this statement give the impression that the water is not pure when it requires to be treated?

The circular does not challenge my former statement that the scheme is going to cost just on £390.000. nor has any councillor denied or attempted to refute the statements and serious charges I have made regarding our waterworks. I am surprised that the Mayor and Town Clerk should attach their names to such misleading statements as the circular contains. Again I repeat that a commission should be appointed to inquire into our municipal mismanagement.—l am, etc., H. Y. Freejiax. March 26/