THE GREY RIVER ARGUS FRIDAY, DECEMBER, 5, 1924. A QUESTION OF CORROSION

Grey River Argus, 5 December 1924, Page 4

THE GREY RIVER ARGUS FRIDAY, DECEMBER, 5, 1924. A QUESTION OF CORROSION

The principal, if not the sole objection expressed by the Grey Power Board to locating its projected steam generating plant at Greymouth is its belief that fresh water cannot be obtained from the liver below Dobson* and that the water here is brackish. The Board claims that no less than one hundred thousand gallons of water will be required for the boilers every hour, and the only source of supply I which they could see locally is the I river. Apparently the town water I supply is below the standard of pur- | ity desired by the Board, since it is i obtained from the river quite close to | the town. No doubt, the Board’s engineer has gone carefully into this I matter but it is conceivable that an ) alternative source of supply to the ? river has not yet received full consideration. There are a couple of butter factories, however, in the town which find they are able to obtain suitable water for their use, and the Dispatch Foundry likewise secures water free from brackishness, and we believe one member of the Power Board is interested in a sash and door factory in town, which also secures water here that meets all the requirements of a. steam plant. All these concerns are using artesian water which can be piped in Greymouth most reliably and economically so that it is remarkable that the Power Board should have overlooked this aspect of the matter. A contributor in another column expresses wonder that the Board intends using 100,000 gallons of water hourly, and especially queries as to what kind of condenser it. proposes using. No doubt, the Board will duly explain the details later on, and then it will be more feasible to institute a comparison between the water facilities of Dobson and Greymoutb. Our contributor conjectures that I here may be

some special virtue in Dobson coal for a power plant, but it will he time to express an opinion when the Dobson mine reaches the producing stage*. In the meantime it will be worth the Borough Council’s while, along with its concern for the Power Board’s undertaking, to consider means for the elimination of any brackishness discernible in the municipal water sup-

ply, because, serious as might be corrosion in a. steam boiler, it would be a calamity to corrode the internal mechanism of the whole community.