Gisborne Water Supply Scheme.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 151, 8 July 1901, Page 3

Gisborne Water Supply Scheme.

(To the Editor of Times.) Siii, —I respectfully request permission write a few lines in connection with th

water supply. In the first place, th c scheme will doubtless cost the people o£ Gisborne XnOOO per annum, which, added to tho present taxes, will be keenly (elt. Besides, thc water from any spring, river, or creek in Cook County (excepting tho water at Tiniroto) will be found of little use for household purposes. Anyone who advocates a water supply from Waihircro should be compelled to use that water and no other for three months, and 1 am convinced there will bo no vote for the scheme from that quarter. No doubt many people in Gisborne will vote for the water supply without counting tho cost or thinking what tho result will mean personally. A number of people in tho back streets are under the impression that thc water scheme will cost them nothing if they do not re- | quire the water. If that wero so the tax would be enormous to those who did use it. My impression is that there would not bo 50 people in Gisborne using the water after twelve months if by not using it they could avoid tho tax, but the idea is absurd. Will not every foot of land in Gisborne be mortgaged to the Government to secure the interest and sinking fund on the amount borrowed '? And tho mortgage will remain on the land for forty years whether the people like it or not.* I do not think it advisable to boj'cott a scheme if there is no remedy, but in this case there is a remedy, lnsread of catching water in the valley at the source of the Wailiirere stream and conveying it to Gisborne at considerable cost, why not each householder provide an extra tank and store sufficient for his own use, and when a greater quantity is required a concrete cistern could be made, holding two, three, or four thousand gallons, according to requirements '? The first cost would then be the only cost, and the people would have a good supply of clean soft water. Concerning water for quenching fire is the next question. I am of opinion that tho pressure of water from Waihirerc, after running through about eight or nine miles of pipes, would be very low indeed. I should think that if a brick tower wore built near the lire brigade shed, ninety or one hundred feet high, the upper portion to form a reservoir to hold fifty or sixty thousand gallons of water, from the bottom of which pipes could be laid on to the main street, and a good pressure of water could be utilised to quench fires at a minute's notice, and most people know that one gallon of salt water is equal to two gallons of fresh for quenching fires. If necessary the pump could be kept going pumping water into the cistern to increase the supply. Of course tho tower and cistern would cost money, but little in comparison with the "Waihirore scheme. —I am, etc.. Hkxry Cukrik.