LESTH-WAITATI

Evening Star, Issue 17325, 13 April 1920, Page 4

LESTH-WAITATI

MORE WASTE OF WATER.

A BROKEN PIPE-LINE,

The clouds continue to assemble over Dunedin, only to disperse mockingly after promising a downpour on a thirsty land. There are, however, certain favored high lands flanking the town on the northward which often on the finest afternoons and evenings may be seen wrapped in dense cloud formations. Even in the driest spell this is so, and for that reason the gathering grounds for’ Dunedin’s water supply system are of a nature not escelkd anywhere. The most important of these highlands is Bwampy Mountain, sometimes known as Showy. It is the pivot of Dunedin’s water supply. One of its flanks feeds the Silvoretream; the other feeds tho Waitati. In a. previous a-rtids we disclosed what miserably poor uso is being made of - the Swampy Mountain supply on the_ Silverstream side. With the objectof seeing the use made on the Waitati side tho same party as before paid a visit on _ Saturday afternoon to the Leith-Wai-tat-i system. As perhaps most people know, the feature of the Leith-Waitati scheme is a storage reservoir dh the Leith side of the divide, fed by a gravitation pipe-line coming over the saddle, and conveying water from streams intercepted high up on the Waitati side. It la a fine scheme, and, being a hi&h-level one, is a boon to the hill suburbs—or should be. The reservoir, known as Sullivan Dam, is a superb natural basin. The dam site is well chosen, no great length of embankmentbeing needed. The dam might with safety have been made anv where up to . 59ft higher, thus immensely inn-easing the reservoir’s storage capacity However, s; aremongers in the Woodhangh Valley blocked that. s£d Sullivan Dam’s capacity is only 30,900,090 gallons. It might hare been a storage reservoir instead of merely a service reservoir. On Saturday the water in it was very low Indeed

Over the saddle iHe first stream intercepted is Williams Creek. The intake is a short distance from the road oiyihe uphill side. The work here is satisfactory! no escaping water being noticed in the creekbed below the intake. The v ooden planking above the pins line, however, needs renewal if the patrol men are to walk in safety. Further along the pipe line (which contours along the hills overlooking Waitati Bay) a junction is readied, where a splendid tributary discharges into a settling tank. The orifice which k ads from tank to pipe line is disproportionately small, and Is further-blocked by a grating. But- the curious thing about the junction was this-. Toe tributary itself was a minor affair compared with an earthenware pipe line of about loin diameter leading into the receiving end of the tank. That pipe line was discharging nothing ; it was bone-dry.

This was an astonishing discovery. The capacity of a 16in pipe is something considerable. Why, therefore, was it doing nothing in a time of severe drought stress? A walk of a few chains further along the pipe line.gave the answer. There are gaps in the line. . In places the ipints in the pipes gape. It took 20 minutes’ smart walking to get to the upper end of this earthenware pipe line. In that distance of about one mile and a-third the line has been designed to intercept half a dozen tributaries. They were flowing, hut all going to waste. Trees have been allowed to grow along the line, and their roots disturb the pipes. One tree had been blown over, and its roots had levered the pipes up into a switch-back. Small slips of clay have taken place and burst the pipe lino asunder. It is an eloquent, speaking picture of lamentable neglect. It appears as if the line, having once been laid down, has been allowed to look after itself. This is no way to treat an earthenware pipe line laid on the sidelings of such hills as these. Did the corporation know of this when they issued their circular urging the Lee Stream scheme because of disappointing supplies from existing systems? Did the councillors know of tin’s when they unanimously voted 'to submit, the Lee Stream loan proposal to the citizens? We were under the impression that the City Council comprised quite a few amateur engineers of the kind who, like bowlers in cricket, are. born and not made. Why have they neglected such opportunities for their talents as here exist—to say nothing of their duty to the ratepayers? City Council discussions and reports have always suggested that the Leith-Waitati system was the favored child of the Town Hall. Recently we referred to Silver-stream as the Cinderelku'of the City water systems. Mow it appears as if Leith-Waitati is being no better handled.

Finally, in cnniunction with the above, should be read and remembered the valuable letters on secret overflows and other waste of Leith-Waitati water which have appeared in our correspondence columns over the name of Mr H. V Freeman, of Mornington.