WATER SUPPLY

Manawatu Times, Issue 6848, 1 March 1929, Page 6

WATER SUPPLY

To the Editor. Sir, —The diversity of opinion in the Borough Council at the present time regarding the water supply shows that they are on the horns of a dilemma. This is only to be expected, seeing how often t'he council’s loan proposals have been promptly turned down by the thinking ratepayers. _ _ . It is now common public opinion that Pabnerston North luckily escaped a great disaster by tho loan rejection. The ill-digested scheme of which the £65,000 was only the thin end of the wedge of a £200,000 expenditure to which the town would have been commited had the loan been carried; while no competent investigation has yet been made as to tho source and “capacity of the supply.” Now everybody knows that something must bo done sooner or later to improve tho supply, but it is quite evident that the ratepayers are going to be satisfied that that something is to be the correct thing before supporting a loan. The latest thing was the council s essay to clean the reservoir and at a cost of about £2OOO, but it is well known that this effort was largely a failure and t)hc cleaning did not eventuate as anticipated. The hospital authorities have been grossly misled on the part of Mr. Graham as to how fire protection could be provided by improved reticulation. As a matter of fact, owing to the distance from the arterial main, this could not be done, except at a cost that ■would be ruinous to the town, while it is possible the supply may yet come from tho North when the whole of the reticulation scheme will be reversed.

Again, the cost of an adequate fire protection for the hospital is comparatively a small matter if gone about in a correct way. I may add that there are several phases of the water supply question that have never so far been touched upon and I do not intend to open up these questions at present. — I am, etc., R. EDWARDS.