WATER AND DRAINAGE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVII, Issue 139, 14 June 1913, Page 8

WATER AND DRAINAGE.

TO THE RATEPAYERS OF THE T BOROUGH OF BLENHEIM.

On'the IStli June, 1913, you are asked to vote on the -water and drainage scheme for the borough as set out fe the Borough Engineer. _ Tins, as most of you are aware,, is a huge pumping affair for both the water and Lrerag? work, the most -expensive Sem that could be adopted tor the work to be done, meaning the maintenance of huge water pumping station pumps, the engines and pumps to be in duplicate at the far end of Springlands, with large fid^ty oil euginls to be fed with oil. .This, .at the present and prospective oil famine prices, is beyond all sense or reason. Who, in their right minds, would buy large oil engines for their own use with the present outlook of the oil market, and the prospect of heavy risßs in the price of oil? The scheme is to pump water, from a spring or oroek, called Batty's Creek (which traverses a number of properties in that district), with the right to be acqwired by the Borough under the Fublic Works Act after being Slated in huge figures compensating the property-owners who lose this valuable water, and who air© great promoters of the scheme. You, or most <A you, hear a lot about this valuable water, "it is good, there is nothing nefcr it," and although- the creek passes quite close to several homesteads on its way to the Omaka River, and it would be the. cheapest to use, ail have sunk tube wells in' preference to using the water from the said creek; but, oh, it is good enough fox Blenheim,! I have previously stated tlat thisi water passes through an old raffipo swamp, and from the amount of rotten raupo vegetation, three or foar feet thick, which is lying on, the "bottom of the creek, I still think so. Afeo, th© drainage from the farms and e«fctages running into the creek is very tempting, and if led around- another vmll will still filter into it, and this makes it very nice for a town supply, wlen we could have artesian water at •okz doors iat a much smaller expenso. For fire purposes th© scheme is a magnificent one, so the promoters tell xta; and the water tower," which is tiro miles away from the pump station, is to be sihut off and the pumps am to pjjmp direct into the mains'; but not until the attendant has rum two miles tßere and back andl shut the tower off, and starred the engines pumping tile 300 gallons per minute into the mains at lOOlbs pressure. By this time, according to "Observer," the firemen will have reached: the fire, and ■supposing that it is a large one, re--qairing six hoses taking 200 gallons of water per minute or 1200 gallons in all to the minute at lOOlba to the ■square inch pressure, anyone can see liow long 300 gallons a minute pumped in at the Sprunglande ond will keep 1200 gallons per minute going drawn oat at Market Square end. The whole affair would be a farce, and a very

•expensive one too. Now, what I maintain is, that if the mains were taken down from the top of High Street to ihe pumping station, were ■placed up tile Taylor valley, and the

tost of the tower, pumping station, land and water rights put into mains and laid on to the end of them, they would reach to a point where there •would be an everlasting supply of ■good water without any pumping or cost for machinery, and we would have a gravitation supply, if we are trt have a supply at all. The sewerage scheme is a large pimping affair witih engines, air compressors, air reservoirs, air mains, ejector station, rising mains, and an immense amount of plant to. maintain for -all time. The air ejector system, yv33. know, works well; but I believe it is 4 acknowledged by .those who know that- it is the most expensive system of pumping water, that is in use, so why adopt it? Why pump the sewerage? W© will take the Grove Road district, which we all know has a good fall to town. Drain it to a small septic tank below the Nelson Street bridge and let the effluent into the Opatra River, and the small quantity of dear water running from it will never be seen or h«ard of, and no pumps needed! We are aware of the fact that the town, gravitates,'to the poittt, at the baths, and High Street aaidf^Maxwell Road will all drain there byjjtjiieir own gravitation, and will havens good a fall as the Masterton town sewers have. Pat a" septic tank at the baths and drain the effluent into the river at the junction, and it will not trouble anybody, and wo will have no pumping or other expense. Again, we know that Manse Road gravitates to tbe lower end, and if put through a small septic tank could drain into the river near the site where it is proposed to drain the effluent .into the river by the huge pumping scheme. The suburbs Islington and luversdale could be drained in the same way by a:- small septic tank. In New Plymouth the septic tank is right in the

centre of the town, and there is no

smell from it, and one cannot see the ■effluent running into n small stream close by, so why will this scheme not do for Blenheim? No, we will have tff spend our lives in feeding pumps to keep dry 20 miles of earthenware pipe drains t?.at are buried many feet deeper in the under-current of water tnat is passing to the sea and will leak greatly through the 20 miles of pipes, and have to bo pumped away by the air-pinnping. apparatus,, no matter how carefully the drains are laid.

This scheme is being fostered on to the ratepayers by a few land agents and gentlemen whose sole object is to unload sundry properties they are landed with. They say they do not care what happens so long as they can make a "bit of a boom" to unload their sundry "white elephants" on to tire unwary, and get rid of Queen Street. They have had passed in the 'Council sundry "dummy" rates in addition to the security rate struck some time ago, so there are now three rates struck. Their only object can be to blind the ratepayers. They pick some small ratepayer and tell frim that the' difference in interest ■ will only make id per week to him, and talk a lot of "clap-trap" to gull tßa ratepayers generally. It would bo just as reasonable for the other side to take the largest ratepayer and say that tills, is the: right amount. TJforo are 700 ratepayers to foot the bill, so wo will let them know what the promoters (nofc company promoters), have to say, viz: that it will take £4800 per annum to meet the bill. Their statement as to working costs is ridiculously low compared wrfch other pumping schemes, so it would be c|iiit<!. safe to add GO j>er cent, on to their figures, and this.' "wonld not be exaggerating the cost of j rrraiptenaneo and working -expenses. By adding 50 per oont. this would bring the figtire« up to £7200 per annum, or an average of £10 per year for 1 each .rate-payer. Now that is what the.3» gfvntry are leading: you into. When tho loan was carried it ■wag represented that the rates would

Ed as general rates, and the amount received in that year for rates was £3753, so it would be quite reasonable to say that it would take twice that amount to meet the liability. With, the shops and vacant section holders paying half water rate who is to pay the piper but the cottagers? The gentlemen referred to pander to the irking men as friends, but I fail to see where the fnendship-comes in when we consider that £5000 per annum is collected and sent to ''Moses and Co., London." There will be £5000 less to pay for wages in Blenheim, as the largest portion oi the money must come out of the working man. Even if the large ratepayers hare to pay a large share of the rates they will simply have to do with less lab One of the chief fortes of the promoters (?) is that smaller places than ( Blenheim have the water supply and drainage. Now, this is another or their gross exaggerations 1 The places are not on all-fours with Blenheim, for in the first place they have no heavy river works to maintain and therefore no rate, and in the second place they have no good supply of artesian water to rely on but had to have tanks or use dug well water, so they should have good water at any price. The most of them are easily drained by gravitation at a small cost and very little upkeep. Ido not know of any places with the population and area of Blenheim that have two huge pumping schemes, and a heavy river rate