“WASTEFUL USE”

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20632, 13 August 1941, Page 7

“WASTEFUL USE”

WATER IN GISBORNE DRASTIC STEPS URGED BIG NIGHT DRAW-OFF “The quantity of water now supplied to the public is extremely liberal; in fact, it'seems to indicate that water is used in a most wasteful manner.” This' is what Mr. F. W. Furkert, former Engineer-in-Chief of the Public Works Department, thinks about water usage in Gisborne, as expressed in his report on a proposed water supply nnementatio’f.'i -scheme which was discussed by lhc Gisborne Borough Council last r’i/Jhl. "The matter .might be expressed in another way by .saying that the water in Gisborne is wasted rather than used,” the report' added: ‘So far as I am able to ascertain, the number of people served vwth water does not exceed 12,400. and c'f these a number west of Lytton road have no sewers, so that their consumption should be well below the average. The consumption in winter is round about 1,000.000 gallons per day, rising in summer to 1,500,000. The latter figure might have been higher but for the existence, at the time, of .restrictions. Such evidence as I- have been able to collect leads me to believe that the restrictions are not fully complied with tif at all).” other Towns Compared On the figures quoted, the average consumption per head in winter was 80 gallons and in summer over 120 gallons, with an average over the year of 95 gallons per person per day. Auckland’s consumption averaged between 64 and 69 gallons, Wellington’s 64, and Dunedin’s 62. Christchurch’s was 30 gallons, but there much of the supply came from private artesian wells. All these cities had many and varied industries and public amenities like fountains, so perhaps it was fairer to cite places with populations nearer that of Gisborne. Lower Hutt, also largely industrial, had an average consumption of between 49 and 50 gallons a day. Devonport, with 10,000 people, averaged 49.8 gallons, Takapuna, with 8000, 27 gallons, Northcote 53 gallons, and Birkenhead 23.5 gallons. Devonport figures included water supplied to the armed forces and shipping, equivalent to a population of a further 2000. so that Devonport’s real figure would be about 41-2 gallons. With Gisborne’s soil and climate, the consumption should not exceed. 50 gallons a head per day. An examination of the automatic records showed that at night, when the consumption should be almost negligible, the flow into town never fell below 30,000 gallons per hour and was often 35,000 gallons. Extraordinary Flow “This means that every person, including babies in arms, is responsible for the disposal of nearly 2| gallons per hour all night,” continued Mr. Furkert. “In other words, every household of 4 1-3 —the Gisborne average—wastes between bedtime and sunrise about 75,000 gallons of water, say 30 buckets full. Ido not. of course, suggest that every household actually does waste at this rate, but that is how it works out. “Thinking that this extraordinary flow might be accounted for either partially or entirely by leaks on the supply main, I had this cut off for 24 hours and had the town supplied from the Taumata Hill service tank, with a resultant night pressure of approximately two-thirds of the normal. The consumption in the ‘wee small hours’ was still 20,000 gallons per hour, while no appreciable loss was observed in the main from Te Arai to Lytton road. “Whether anything is done in the meantime with your water service or not, it is essential that this waste be curtailed drastically. Practically every night I was in Gisborne a greater flow of water was wasted than is actually available in Te Arai in dry summers, No wonder there is such an outcry from the fire-fighter and the householder. Metered Supplies “The metered supplies outside Gisborne. including hotels, factories and various businesses, totalling 57 customers, give an average of under 50 gallons per capita, while if the Kia Ora Dairy Company, the abattoir and the racecourse are omitted the average works out at 40 gallons. “If waste is occurring and is not checked, any increase in the working pressure will increase the waste, as was plainly indicated by my tests. Urgent, however, as is • the waste question, the entire elimination of waste—a condition which, however desirable, is impossible—would not make the Te Arai supply adequate, records showing that it falls at times to 20,000 gallons per hour, only twofifths of what you consistently draw off in the daytime, even in midwinter.”