WATER, SUPPLY FOR PALMERSTON NORTH

Manawatu Times, Volume LIII, Issue 6537, 20 February 1928, Page 6

WATER, SUPPLY FOR PALMERSTON NORTH

BX-COUNCILLOB GRABS’S SUGGESTION. (To the Editor.) i Sir, —Tho present state of the water supply for Palmerston North, must cause grave disquiet to all citizens and the recent refusal of the ratepayers to sanction a loan for improvements renders the matter more urgent. The relevant facts of the question as I sec them are as follows: —(1) The pressure given by tho present supply is totally inadequate for lire prevention; (2) The overloaded condition of the filters—fully 75 per cent, overloaded —may lead to a breakdown at any time with results that may be disastrous to the health of tho town; (3) After the best method of remedying these evils has been decided on and authorized by the ratepayers a period of 12 to 18 months must elapse before they can be carried out. If the above is a true and unbiased statement of the position, why was the loan turned down? Partly, because, owing to the present wave of depression ratepayers feared any increase of rating, but chiefly, in my opinion, because bf the reports spread abroad of the unsuitableness of tho present supply and tho possibility of obtaining a supply at a much lower cost by means of artesian wells. I do not desire to enter into any argument over this aspect of tho question, as it is pre-eminently a question for experts, and wo have had far too many expressions of opinion from amateur engineers and would-be engineers My suggestion is: In order to do oide these matters, let tho Council ask the Government to appoint an outside engineer, one of the best obtainable, to go into the whole question of present position, future requirements, and best methods of supply. Leave him entirely unfettered, but when he reports then sink all personal opinions or preferences, accept his decision, get behind the Council and carry tho matter out without further delay. Meantime, tho dam, at any rate, should be cleaned out as soon as weather permits. The position is too dangerous to the prosperity and good name of the city to be shelved. The Mayor says ho will bow to the decision of the ratepayers. That suits those who voted against tho loan. . What about those of us who voted for the loan? Do not our wishes count?—Tours, etc., E. H. CBABB.