PALMERSTON’S WATER SUPPLY

Manawatu Times, Volume LII, Issue 3539, 22 February 1927, Page 6

PALMERSTON’S WATER SUPPLY

Consulting Engineers Submit , Report I ■■ JMR J. R. HUGHES’ SCHEMA APPROVED The special report of Mesar* R. W. Holmes and Son, engineers, of Wellington, upon how best to -'lmprove the borough water supply has been made available fer publication and will bo fully discussed at a special meeting of the Council to be held later. ; " r , - The full text of the report will:'be printed to-morrow. Its outstanding feature is that th e scheme propounded by the borough engineer, Mr; J. R. Hughes, has met with the approval of Messr* Holmes and Son in all details. Inter alia they say:—“The dam site proposed by )Cr. Hughes is the best obtainable both from an engineering and financial/ point of view as it enables the existing works to be used to the fullest extent.” They cnelder that the proposed works should be constructed for the estimate of. £147,880 as .stated In Mr. Hughes’ report Messrs Holmes and Son deal In detail with the catchment area,/the new dam, clearing th e reservoir* of silt consumption, wastage.' sewers, route and size of the main, and pumping. ; ' In connection with the water consumption of 100 gallons per head, this they consider excessive for , the town and they feel certain that;.lf meters were installed the amount would be reduced by at least i half, while the same useful benefits would be obtained. The dally consumption In Melbourne was only 64 gallons, Sydney 44 gallons and Auckland St gallons. - VSv Dealing with the size ,of themalna, Messrs Holmes and Son state-.that they have gone carefully Into ' the’ question of the probable increase- !■ the population of tho borough with Its relation to the size Of the mains ' and had found that a 21 inch pipeline jshould cope with the demand format least 25 years allowing for the present consumption of 100 gallons ; per head per day. v . By installing a new main from tho Square to Linton road. (Leaving a gap at the bridge a distance of approximately 2( miles, costing 'ftpproximately £21.000, an immediate relief would be obtained for the next 6or 7 years. " ",]• They also reported having gone carefully Into tho idea of installing booster pumps in the main and considered that while such ..a scheme would have been practicable for .Increasing the pressure ' during fifes, the time for such a scheme had passed owing to the Increased demand for water, particularly on tho. higher levels of tho Borough.