Borough Water Supply.

King Country Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 303, 15 October 1910, Page 5

Borough Water Supply.

To the Editor. Sir, — In reply to the letter of Mr Pine: no doubt Mr Spencer, the Borough Engineer, will be able to convince him of the futility of his proposed scheme. An undershot wheel is, of all power wheels the most inefficient, inasmuch as it utilises about 30 per cent, of available power, losing 70. For low falls the turbine yields the best results with a loss of about 25 per cent. The undershot wheel depends for its action almost entirely upon river current, which in the case of the Mangaokewa stream is practically nil. With a channel as proposed by Mr Pine, barrage of the stream would be necessary, and this would be fraught with great danger to the town, besides entailing much expensive flushing, costly machinery, boring, storage, piping to reservoir and expert attendance. The cost would greatly exceed that of a reservoir and connecting main as proposed by the council. As to the operation of a turbine or Pelton wheel by artesian water power direct the pressure in this case would be small and quite ineffective for pumping purposes. But if Mr Pine thinks otherwise, why pump at all and lose 40 to 50 per cent, of power by turbine and pump? Why not connect the artesian water and its latent power at once with the reservoir on the hill and retain its 100 per cent, efficiency? The proposition is absurd. The Napier people must find their water an expensive luxury—which we shall no doubt hear about in due course.—l am, etc., E. H. HARDY.