CITY WATER SUPPLY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 63, 12 February 1936, Page 2

CITY WATER SUPPLY

TERRACE END’S NEEDS. CONCERN FOR THE FUTURE. The vexed question of ensuring for Terrace End an adequate water supply throughout the year, and the attitude in this connection that residents of the suburb would be advised to take in connection with the poll on February 20 on the City Council’s two loan proposals, formed tlie basis of a discussion extending over two hours at a meeting of the executive of the Terrace End Improvement and Progressive Association, last night. It was decided, after a round-table debate, in which the trend of opinion was against both schemes, to leave the matter open, but to invite the Mayor (Mr A. E. Mansford) to address a meeting of residents of the district oil Monday night for the purpose of explaining the schemes. The association had previously .appointed a sub-committee to consider the subject, and the chairman (M r E. J. Oakley) took the opportunity to endeavour to arrive at an expression of opinion, at the same time stating his views on the two proposals. The first is for a loan of £3260 to instal a 6in. diameter artesian well, storage reservoir of 300,000 gallons, providing two electrically driven pumps, the erection of a pumping house, the laying of a 9in. diameter main to Ruahine Street, and a Bin. main along Eitzroy Street to Main Street. The second is for £14,300’ for a 2lin. diameter main from Linton Road to Fitzherbert bridge and the city side of, the bridge to College Street. Mr Oakley contended that the artesian scheme was ‘'definitely a failure.” The first bore had been completed in October, 1930, at a cost of £14,000 (£IO,OOO being for the feeder mains and £4OOO for the artesian sup ply. ‘‘On October 26, 1930, this well discharged 490 gallons per minute; seven months later it fell to 287 gal Ions; on October 6, 1932, it tell to 180 gallons, and on December 7, 1934, it fell to 113 gallons,” he said. ‘‘l have not any later figures t.o show what the discharge is now, but it is safe to assume that the flow is now even lower than that. On February 17, 1932, No. 2 bore was completed and on March 11, 1932, the disc barge was 544 gallons per minute; on October 6, 1932, seven months later, it had fallen to 453 gallons; on December 8, 1933, to 320 gallons; and on December 7, 1934, to 295 gallons. I have no later figures, either, for tliis bore, and it is also safe to assume that the discharge is much lower now. It will be seen from these figures that the capacity of these two bores has fallen from 1034 gallons per minute to 408 gallons on December 7 1934. When these tests were taken one well was closed down.

“It is a peculiar thing that when tlie wells were- flowing jointly the discharge at December 7, 1934,.was only 343 gallons per minute, or 65 gallons per minute less than when each was tested individually. The explanation of this is that the two wells are drawing from the same underground waterhearing stratum. It seems to me a waste of money putting down a third well to draw from the same waterbearing stratum when there is a diminishing supply from the two bores now in existence.

“Approximately 100,000 gallons daily are going to waste through, lack of storage capacity. The capacity of the present reservoir is 100,000 gallons and it appears that further storage provision is necessary,” tlie chairman continued.. “The cost included in the £8260 loan for a further 300,000 gallons reservoir, I understand, is £2670. The second loan is part of a scheme to cost the ratepayers £117,175. In February, 1924, Mr H. F. Toogood, consulting engineer to tlie council, when reporting on the various schemes proposed for augmenting the city’s supply, said that the supply from tlie Tiritea was adequate for a population oi 34,000 people. The Tiritea does not appear adequate to supply our present population of under 24,000, and we are now asked to incur a liability of £117,175, which on Mr Toogood’s figures would only supply another 10,000 or 11,000 people, so that in a few years we would have to again take on a further large liability to obtain adequate water for our population. “I think definitely that both these loans should be ruled out; that they are a waste of public money and a proper scheme should be brought forward that would end our water troubles. The only scheme which seems worthy of consideration and which, I think, would be a solution of our troubles Is the Manawatu River; this scheme would be the least expensive and would provide all the water we require for all time. The water can be pumped from the river and would be drawn through water-bearing shingle beds to ensure that the maximum amount of natural filtration was obtained. This scheme has been suggested by Mr J. R. Hughes, the city engineer, and 1 certainly think that this scheme is the one that our association should do. everything in its power to see carried out,” declared Mr Oakley. FILTRATION SCHEME.

Mr F. Litchfield staffed that the water supply of Hamilton was obtained by filtration from the Waikato River, and he believed such a scheme v ould be practicable in Palmerston North. Mr E. Anderson said lie believed the scheme was to sink shafts about 100 yards from the actual stream of the river, thus enabling a maximum of filtration to destroy any contagious or deleterious matter.

Mr Ditehfiekl: For over 35 years we have had this trouble with Tiritea recurring.

Mr Oakley reiterated that the scheme for Tiritea was estimated to cost £117,175, and it would be insufficient to supply the city when its population rose above 34,000 —a position likely to arise within a very few years.

Mr Anderson expressed the opinion that tlie engineer was on the right lines in regard to this scheme, designing it as part of the whole permanent scheme to be evolved by the effluxion of time. He pointed to the desirability of a filter being constructed in the Manawatu River, not at the FitzESrbert bridge as had been suggested in City Council discussions, but further up the river to enable a direct line to be taken to the Terrace End area. Mr S'. H. Snell pointed to the danger to the artesian scheme by earthquakes. It would mean “killing” it. Mr Oakley: I am in favour of killing both. Mr Anderson: I think we ought to kill the artesian scheme. Mr Oakley said there was no guarantee that the Tiritea watershed would provide a sufficiency of water in the years to come. In a dry summer it had been stated that the supply was inadequate to supply tlie city even now. .

The discussion veered to the powers possessed by the executive to give expression to an opinion or to recommend residents to treat the loan proposals in any particular way, and although it was determined that neither scheme, so far as the particulars of each was

available, commended itself to the executive, the meeting decided that the wisest course would be to invite the Mayor to address a meeting,, explaining the particular schemes. On this understanding the discussion was concluded.