LEAKS IN PIPELINE

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

LEAKS IN PIPELINE

BIG INCREASE IN 1940 Leaks began to appear in the pipeline 10 years after it was laid down, and last year the total should give rise to some misgivings, the figure being more than double that in 1939. In mentioning this in a supplementary report to the Gisborne Borough Council last night, Mr. F. W. Furkert, when reviewing the water . supply problem, stated that the leaks in the pipeline had averaged 16 per year for the first eight years, and the average for the 19 years up to 1937 was given in the borough records as 29 per annum. Since 1935 the figures were; 1935, 31; 1936, 37; 1937, 32; 1938, 27; 1939. 30; 1940, 65. Last year’s total might reflect greater vigilance on the part of the staff, spurred on by growing complaints about a water shortage, the report stated, but it might herald the beginning of (he end. The annual cost over the past 23 years was about £IOO a. year, while interest alone on a new pipeline would not be less than £2500, even with money at 3 per cent, so it was plain I hat the proper policy was to hang on to the old line so long as the cost and annual disturbance to the supply were not insufferable.