TE KUITI'S WATER SUPPLY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 547, 5 March 1913, Page 5

TE KUITI'S WATER SUPPLY.

THE DAM SITE VISITED. PIPE LINE DEFECTS. At the invitation of Mr Dodge, borough engineer, a Chronicle tive paid a visit to the source of Te Kuiti's water supply, inspecting en route the pipe line. The pipes are laid along the Waiteti vallej, and until the ascent to the dam site after entering the property of Messrs . Gillanders and Weir, their is nothing to disturb the pipes once they are laid. Ascending the steep country, however, there are places where the pipes have to be carried across gullies. Wooden shutes are built supported on trestles, and the pipes are carried in the shutes until it is possible to trench them in solid ground. In one or two places it was found that the pipes were leaking, one point in particular being rather bad. The sidling has slipped away and carried sever°l of the trestles down che hill a little with the result that the line is sagging oadly. In order to prevent further damage, and make the mains secure against a serious break it will probably be found necessary to sink piles to the solid rock in order to give proper foundation for the trestles on which the line is carried. Manisman tubes to replace the broken pipes are already on the ground close to the break, and when the 'repairs are effected the danger af a serious interruption of the town water supply will be averted. A short distance above the landslip a further leak was discovered at a joint in the mains, but it was evidently not of a serious nature, and could be readi'y repaired. However, there are several alaces along the sliding which will require careful watching. The country is fairly steep, and shows a tendency to slip, but any break that is likely ;o occur can readily be coped with. 4s indicating the strain which is alaced on. the pipes when a slip occurs, Mr Dodge pointed out pipes in which the rivets had been cut right away, and the pipe burst open through ;he sagging of the line caused by a jiip. Ample evidence of a sufficiency )f water was afforded by the sight of ;he stream caused by the overflow. There is no dam to speak of, the backwater caused by a few bags of limestone and cement sufficing for the intake of the mains, and more water is running down the creek than is being diverted inio the pipes. However, there is no doubt as to the advisability jf erecting a dam to conserve a suffi jient supply of water to pruvide against all contingencies, and the position is admirably adapted for the conservation of an almost unlimited supply. The site originally intended for the dam is undoubtedly suitable for the purpose, but Mr Dodge is of opinion that by going a short distance further up lor the site a considerably greater quantity of water would be conserved. The estimated cost of the dam is from £IOOO to £I2OO, hut the engineer is not quite certain whether a concrete or earthen Jam is preferable. The cost of carting to the site material for a concrete structure would be very considerable, whereas the material necessary for an earthen dam is ready to hand. The unly doubt concerning the matter is whether a sufficient supply of good clay for th 9 yight-foot central rampart of the dam exist, in a handy position. Any quantity of earth and sandstone to reinforce the clay centre is to b9 obtained on the spot, and a dam can be obtained to hold sufficient water to serve the requiremnts of a town larger than Te Kuiti is likely to be for twenty years to come. It is also noticeable that if a greater supply is necessary a creek which enters the main stream a short distance below the dam site can easily be diverted into the dam to augment the present supply.