“MUST SAVE EVERY GALLON!”

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21933, 30 January 1946, Page 4

“MUST SAVE EVERY GALLON!”

BOROUGH WATER FORCED ECONOMY APPEAL TO CONSUMERS BATHING REQUIREMENTS “I regret that I must refer again to the state of the water supply, which, according - to our engineer, is now serious, and in a week or two might become really bad,” said the Mayor, Mr. IT. H. Bull, at last night’s meeting of the Gisborne Borough Council.

To keep the supply going, said Mr. Bull, it had become necessary to pump water from (lie Te Aral Creek below the regular intake. It was advised by the Health Department that all water used for drinking should be boiled first. That was a precaution which everyone should adopt, he said.

“We have come to the stage where every gallon of water must be conserved for essential domestic uses,” added the Mayor. “The health of the community conies first, and everyone must exercise the greatest economy in every way.” Medical men had informed him, lie said, that the taking of fewer baths would not injure the health of the public; and that a less liberal use o* water in sanitary services would have no harmful effect. It was distasteful to have to make these suggestions, said Mr. Bull, but the position was serious, and was becoming more so with every passing wa s satisfied that with care the consumption could be cut by 2,000,000 <nillon= a week, and he asked the public to "give that co-operation to the C °Mr. R. Morse declared that the council would soon come to the point ot Dumping water from the rivers, and that could be deferred if the public would give the council whole-hearted assistance. The council might have to resort to rationing, it the rate of consumption did not come down otherwise.

Mr. H. H. De Costa suggested that hotels and boarding-houses be provided with notices drawing the attention of boarders and staff to the urgent necessity of care in water consumption.

In reply to Dr. A. L. Singer, the engineer, Mr. G. F. Clapcott, stated that the night consumption of water was about 26,000 gallons per hour. There were many legitimate users of the supply at night, of course, but probably there were others less legitimate.

It was possible that people would see water leaking from hydrant-boxes, he said, owing to the fluctuating pressure in the mains unseating the ball-valves in the hydrants.

There was no large loss of water through leakages in the main pipe-lines, because though there were leaks none of them was serious, and in any case there was no opportunity now to undertake large-scale repairs, as it was necessary to tap the Taumata reservoir to keep the supply going during such work.

In reply to Mr. H. F. Wise, the engineer stated that the loss of water through leaks in the main pipe-line would not exceed 20,000 or 30,000 gallons per week. “That is a negligible proportion of the weekly consumption.” said the Mayor, who expressed the view that this information would be of keen interest to the public.

TAPPING OF SPRINGS PRIVATE ENTERPRISE “I think it should be made known to the public that there are many springs, of water on private property in Gisborne, and that some enterprising residents have developed these springs and provided themselves • with sources of permanent water,” said Mr. G. J. Jeune, in the course of a discussion of the water supply at last night’s meeting of the Gisborne Borough Council. “Every now and again we receive information that some citizen is offending against the water by-laws, but when we investigate the complaints we sometimes find that the water being consumed is from wells sunk by private citizens.

“Similarly, we may have complaints that the flower-beds on the Turanganui River banks are being watered daily. It should be explained that this water conies from a spring tapped near the band rotunda, and is not drawn from the mains.” The Mayor. Mr. N. H. Bull, complimented Mr. Jeune on the reminder that underground water could be obtained in many parts of the town, and that, according to the locality and the nature of the sub-soil, it was worth while to expend a little effort in reaching water from underground sources.