REPORT.

New Zealander, Volume XVII, Issue 1547, 13 February 1861, Page 6

REPORT.

The Committee to whom was referred the Message 3 of his Honor the Superintendent, transmitting the Act of the General Assembly, intituled the "Auckland Waterworks Act, 1860," report as follows: The Committee having considered with attention the subject referred to them, have adopted the following Resolutions, which, together with the Minutes of the evidence taken by the Committee, are submitted to the Council.

Resolved, That in the opinion of this Committee it is not expedient that the Superintendent should associate any individual or Company with himself in any undertaking for the Supply of the City with Water. Resolved, That in the opinion of this Committee it is under no circumstances expedient that the supply of so essential an element of health to this community as Water, should be placed under the control of a Company. Resolved, That in the opinion of this Committee it is desirable that provision should be made by the Provincial Council to enable the Superintendent of this Province to undertake the works necessary for supplying the City of Auckland with Water, according to the plan detailed in the report of Mr. James Stewart. Resolved, That in the opinion of this Committee it is desirable that, pending the completion of the Water Works, measures should be taken to save and utilize the supply of water now obtainable from springs in and immediately adjoining the town, and that His Honor the Superintendent should be requested to take the steps necessary to accomplish that purpose. Daniel Pollen, Chairman.

Committee Room, Auckland, February 6, 1861

REPORT AND EVIDENCE OF THE WATER SUPPLY COMMITTEE.

41 That the Message No. 3 of His Honor " the Superintendent, transmitting 4 The Auck- " land Water Works Act, 1860,' be referred "to a Select Committee, to consist of Mr. " Busby, Mr. Boylan, Mr. Dignan, Mr. King, " Major Matsou, Mr. Taylor, and Dr. Pollen •' (mover)." Messrs. O'Neill, Cadman and Wood, added. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12th, 1860. Committee met pursuant to summons. Present—Dr. Pollen, Mr. Busby, Mr. King, Mr. Boylan, Mr. Dignan. Appointment read. Mr. King moved Dr. Pollen be the Chairman of this Committee. Agreed to. Dr. Pollen took the Chair. The Chairman stated that the Water Company had failed to get established. A lengthened discussion relative to obtaining Water for the supply of the City. Mr. King moved, That the Chairman do write to the Petitioners to learn under what circumstances they were induced to abandon their undertaking of the supply of Water. Agreed to. Then, on motion of Mr. Boylan, Committee adjourned to 1.30 p.m. Friday, 14th December, 1860.

Daniel Pollen, Chairman.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 17th, 1860.

Committee met. Present —The Chairman (Dr. Pollen), Mr. Busby, Major Matson, Mr. King. The Minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. The Chairman laid before the Committee a letter he had received from the Chairman of the Provisional Directors of the Auckland Water Works Company. Chairman read the following letter :

Mr. Busby moved, That it be inserted on the Minutes of this day's proceedings, with Dr. Pollen's previous communication. Question put. Agreed to.

Committee Room, Thursday, Dec. 12, 1861.

Gentlemen, —Referring to the Petition gned by you and transmitted to the Provincial Council by His Honor the Superintendent, I am instructed by the Select Committee of the Water Supply for the City of Auckland to request that you will state for the information of the Committee whether you are prepared to proceed in the formation of the Company for establishing Water Works, or have abandoned that project. I have, &c,

Daniel Pollen, Chairman.

To Messrs. Campbell, Heale, Gilfillan, Russell, and Clarke.

Auckland, 27th December, 1860.

Sik, —On behalf of the Promoters of the " Aucklaud Water Woik9 Act," I have to acknowledge the receipt of a lett'T from you as Chairman of the Select Committee of the Provincial Council for Water Supply for the City of Auckland, in which you roquest that the Gentlemen named as a provisional Committee

of a Water Works Company at a Public Meet,, ing held for this object, and who were mentioned in the Bill submitted to the General Assembly as the first Directors, would state for the information of the Committee, whether they are prepared to proceed in the formation of the Company for establishing Waterworks, or have abandoned that project. It would appear from the above communication that the Committee of the Provincial Council are not aware of the history of the Bill submitted to the General Assembly during its last Session, for the incorporation of a Water Company, and of the decision of the Committee of the House of Representatives, which renders it impossible for the Gentlemen named by you to give a direct answer to the enquiry. The Bill as originally introduced into the General Assembly was framed generally in the usual manner, that is:—established a Company : contemplating that the Superintendent, as trustee of the City Endowments, would become a subscriber, give power to take lands, levy rates, borrow money, lay pipes open streets, &c. The Committee of the House of Representatives to whom the Bill was referred, judged it inexpedient to sanction an undertaking of the magnitude of the project submitted to them without that guarantee being afforded for the capability of the Company when incorporated to carry out and complete the undertaking which could only be afforded by signature to a subscription contract to a large amount being previously obtained ; the promoters in consequence of the breaking out of war in the Colony had not thought it expedient to attempt the obtaining such subscriptions, and the Committee declined to proceed further with the Bill, at the same time intimating that a new Bill might be introduced which would give prominence to the idea which was to govern it, that the measure should be more of a public nature than a private undertaking. Consequent upon this decision of the House of Representatives, the original Bill was withdrawn by the promoters, and a new one introduced, which ultimately passed into an Act. By this Act the Superintendent is enabled either alone or in concert with any private persons who may associate themselves with him as subscribers of capital to construct waterworks for the supply of the town and neighbourhood of Auckland with water, upon such terms and in such manner as shall be prescribed by an Act of the Provincial legislature. All the necessary powers, including a power to take , Waste Lands of the Crown, open streets, &c, ! which could not be conferred by the Provincial legislature, are by this Act conferred upon the Superintendent or upon him, and such persons as should associate themselves with him.

The state of the matter, therefore, as it is now vested, is this: the Superintendent either alone, or with others, may construct water works, may take and hold lands for the purpose, is constituted a corporation, and endowed with all necessary powers, but the manner and the terms upon which these persons (if any) are to associate with him, and these powers are to be exercised, are left to the sanction of the Provincial legislature.

I trust I have thus made it clear that I and other gentlemen addressed are not in a position to give an affirmative or a negative reply to the enquiry contained in your letter. As far as an earnest desire to complete the undertaking in such a manner as may be beneficial to the public, and afford a good prospect of profitable employment of capital is concerned, we have not abandoned the project; but under the terms upon which alone the General Assembly gave us a Bill we have no power to "proceed in the formation of the Company" without an arrangement with the Superintendent and the sanction of the Provincial legislature. I wish, however, to express to you for the information of the Committee of the Council our perfect willingness and desire without delay to enter into such arrangements with the Superintendent as may enable him to ask the Provincial Council to pass a Bill at their ensuing Session. And with this vievrl have forwarded to His Honor a copy of your letter and of this reply thereto. At the same time, I wish the Committee to understand that we should prefer that the work should be undertaken by the Provincial Government solely. In conclusion, I may add that the promoters of the Bill which passed the General Assembly, beg to state that if the Superintendent shall determine to exercise the powers given to him by the Bill alone, or associated with others, they think that the cost of preparing plans, &c, and of obtaining that Bill should be refunded to them.

I am, &c, J. Logan Campbell, Chairman.

Provisional Directors of the Auckland Water Works Company

A long discussion relative to proceedings to be taken, Messrs. Busby, King, Chairman.

Mr. Busby moved, That Mr. O'RafFerty's report be now read by the Clerk. Agreed to.

Clerk read the Report, (see Report in the Appendix to Votes and Proceedings of the Provincial Council, Session VIII, 1858.

Discussion

Mr. Busby moved, That in the opinion of the Committee it is not expedient that the Superintenent should associate any individual or Company with himself in any undertaking for the Supply of the City, with Water. Question put. Committee divided.

Ayes 3. Mr. Busby, Col. Matson, Chairman.

Noes 1. Mr. King.

Carried. Mr. Busby gave notice, That at the next meeting of the Committee he move that the plan of bringing Water from the Government Domain, proposed by Mr. O'Rafferty should be proceeded with without any delay, and that the Clerk forward copy of this resolution to the Members of Committee on summons to attend next meeting. Question put. Agreed to. Discussion.

Mr. King gave notice, that at the next meeting of the Committee he should move, That in the opinion of this Committee it is highly desirable that the Provincial Government should render every assistance to any Waterworks Company that may be formed for the purpose of amply supplying the City and Suburbs with Water.

Mr. King moved, That the Clerk forward copy of the same to the Members of Committee. Ordered by Chairman. Mr. Busby moved, That the Committee do now adjourn till to-morrow, Friday, January 18th, at eleven a.m. Committee then adjourned.

Daniel Pollen, Chairmm.

TUESDAY, sth FEBRUARY, 1861. Committee met. Present—The Chairman, Mr. Busby, Mr. Cadman, Mr. O'Neill. % The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed. Mr. James Stewart, Civil Engineer, in attendance, to be examined. Chairman requested Members who had any queries, to submit same to Mr. Stewart in writing. By Mr. Busby: — 1. Doubts having been, raised as to the practicability of raising so great a volume of water through a pipe extending over so great a space and to so great a height, the Committee are anxious to ascertain from you whether you have fully contemplated the resistance to be overcome ? I have. , •■ 2. Have you calculated the weight of water which must be moved at every stroke of the pump 3010 yards and to the height of 361 \ feet? I have. . . 3. What is the weight of *ater contained in a cylinder of 14 inches diameter per foot? 03 lbs. nearly per foot. 1. Would not the whole volume of waier contained in the 3010 yards, which at 03 lbs. would be 258 tons, have to be moved at each stroke of the pump? The weight of water is measured by the perpendicular height, and the force to be overcome by the weight of a vertical column of water of that height, joined to the friction of the pipe, which in that distance is equal to feet additional, the total resistance to the pumps will thus be 402 feet vertical pressure, or equal to 174 lbs. per square inch, or in the area of a 14 inch pipe nearly twelve tons. By the Chairman : 5. You have seen no reason to alter the opinion formerly given by you to a Committee of the Council as to the perfect practicability of your scheme of water supply, or as to your estimate of the cost of the works ?

Since I gave the opinion above referred to, I have had an opportunity of going very fully into the scheme on the occasion of the Water Works Bill passing the House of Representatives, my estimate is as near as possible the same, with the addition of Fire Plugs and Land Compensation, and amounted to £61,775 45., the street piping was minutely estimated. I am since aware of the present price of cast iron pipes, which is, on the average, £1 lis. less than I had then taken as the rate, and will affect the estimate to about £-1100 in reduction; other items, such as price of land and cost of earth works, are on the favourable side.

6. Some doubts have been expressed as to the possibility of making the proposed reservoir perfectly secure, owing to the friable and open character of the volcanic ash of which the hillis composed, are you assured that no difficulty will be found at this point ? I have no doubt in the least of the perfect possibility and economy of such an attempt. The first work of consequence I executed was the formation of the Stormonsfield salmon ponds on a bank of sand on the river Tay, and which, with very little clay, was perfectly successful. The deepest water was six feet, and the thickest puddle Jess than 12 inches ; 9 inches of puddled "till" and 2 inches of milled clay were the proportions used. The large pond was embanked on two sides with sand with two feet puddle, wall in centre with no fine clay. 7. Supposing that the reservoirs were dispensed with in the plan, what would be the effect, as regards the power required in the engines, and generally as to the economy of your scheme ? The power is the same. The engines would then require to work twenty-four hours instead of twelve, requiring double attendance, and with no time for repair or adjustment. I gave this part of the subject my careful consideration before deciding on the scheme, and on it turns the question and possibility of dispensing with duplicate machinery as set forth in my report. By Mr. Cadinan : 8. I suppose that your answer to Dr. Pollen's question is very problematical as to the reduction of the cost of the Works ?

I do not think so ; the only thing which I think is omitted is insurance. My answer wa9 to the effect that I still adhered to my estimate, and gave my reasons for expecting certain items forming by far the largest part of the foregoing expenses would amount to less than I formerly estimated them at. 9. You still think the whole of these Works can be completed for £60,000, with the mains laid down in accordance to and with Dr. Campbell's answer to question. 15, of the Water Committee, of last year. (Vide Report of Water Supply Committee, A—4, Session XII.) I am still of the opinion that the above can be done, having gone over every yard of the Street-pipes required, estimated every sluice and flushing work, and added over £llOO for fire-plugs ; land and right of way, £ISOO, in addition to the estimates in my Report which stated the exclusion of these items. The estimate, with such additions, was laid before the Committee of the House of Representatives, is £6«,775 4s. Od. 10. What will be the weight of water in the reservoir when full ?

The weight of water in the One-tree Hill reservoir will be about 2,230 tons.

11. Was the reservoir you mentioned in the former part of evidence constructed at an elevation ; if so, of what elevation ?

It was constructed on the sloping bank of the river Tay, and was about 15 feet above the river.

By Mr. Busby: — 12. Have you yourself examined the sources from which the stream in the Domain is fed until it crosses the road ? I have.

13. Have you any evidence of the water collected at that point proceeding from any other source than the rain which falls within the surrounding water sheds ? I have no such evidence, but a strong conviction that no other source of that water exists than the raiu fall collecting in the swamps around, which mark the site of a point of volcanic eruption. Did the water come from any other source, it must be one higher, and there is none such except the volcanic cones, which cannot possibly be the source referred to. 14. Do you think that the diminution of the supply which is stated to have taken place is not more in appearance than reality. That is, that in consequence of the hardening of the surface a greater proportion of the water runs off at once, and consequently the subsequent filtration yields less ? Undoubtedly this is the case. I do not think less rain falls on the whole, taking an average of years, but it runs off more regularly, owing to the clearing of the ground. 15. Do you not consider that a dam could be constructed which would retain the greater portion.of the water which now runs off during

and imiriediately after raiid, and thiUywij t* manently a considerable supply exceeding E quantity which now runs in dry seasons ? A dam could be constructed in which a tion (how much I cannot say without ineisS* ment) but the whole could not be impound All would be very little compared with whaUi even now required. Such a dam would halt most expensive id comparison with the wate" impounded, and from the nature of the ground be simply a shallow pool of great area, and coo; sequently great evaporation. The vegetauJ would soon be ehoririous, and the water ;&. less.

16. Adverting to Mr. O'Rafferty's report and assuming that his data is correct, do you hot consider that the supply from the Domain would be of such importance to the health ofr the city and its protection against fires, that without reference to the greater undertaking 0 f bringing water from the. Onehunga springs it would be desirable to accomplish the smaller undertaking without delay ; and would it not be of importance to have it as an auxiliary supply in the event of any interruption of the greater supply, by derangement of the machinery or pipes 1 I do not think the " domain scheme" is BUcn as would warrant the expense of even £4,000 being laid out on it, because it can never be sufficient for the wants of Auckland for a single year after the works would be completed, and as to supplementing the larger supply, I co n . sider it of very little value, as the difference of elevation in the two schemes would be an obstacle.

17. Would it not be practicable to keep thi pipes always full from that supply, in the streets, when the height of the source of the water would allow of their being laid ? Certainly, if the demand were so small on those pipes as to balance the supply, but in this case parallel pipes would hare to be laid from any other source which w#uld be required to supply those parts of the lower divisions of the city, which the domain supply could not provide for. 18. Have you heard that in the fires which occurred in the City the extension of the coa» flagration was attributable to the want of water ?

In several of the fires which I have witnessed in the city, such is the case. I was not here at the scene of the great fire in July, 1858, but in at least two cases—the fires in Frasor*! Buildings, and in the William Denny Hotelwant of a proper supply of water was the cause of nearly all the damage that then oc. curred. In such a case as the last fire at Coombe's Buildings, I think water could not have saved to any great extent the block burnt. 19. What time do you suppose would be requisite to accomplish the greater undertaking to distribute through the city the water from the Onehunga springs ? The greatest delay will occur in the laying of the streets, but water might be introduced tip several central points in about twenty monthi from this time, if arrangements were complete in a financial view. The Chairman thanked Mr. Stewart for his attendance, and the evidence he had given the Committee.

On motien of Mr. Busby, the Committee adjourned until' To-morrow (Weduesday), 6th February, at 10.30 a.m.

Daniel Polleu, Chairman.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6tii 186*.

Committee met pursuant to adjournment' Present—The Chairman, Mr. Busby, Mr. Cadman, Mr. King. The Minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

His Honor's Message No 3, of date 27th November, 1860, Session xiii., laid before the Committee.

Mr. Busby's motion of Thursday, 17th January, read. Mr. Busby, with consent of Committee, did not press the motion. Mr. King's motion of same date read by the Chairman.

" That in the opinion of this Committee it is highly desirable that the Provincial Government should render every assistance <o any Water Works Company that may be formed for the purpose of amply supplying the City and Suburbs with water."

Question put. Committee divided. Ayes, 1. Mr. King, I

Noes, 2. Mr, Cad man. Mr. Busby,

Motion negatived. Discussion.

Mr. Busby moved, That in the opinion of this Committee it is under no circumstances expedient that the supply of so essential an element of health to the community as water, should be placed under the control of a Company.

Chairman expressed his dissent. Question put. Agreed to. Conversation relative to Act of General Assembly, and Mr. Stewart's proposed plans. Mr. Cadman moved, That in the opinion of this Committee it is desirable that provision should be made by the Provincial Council to enable the Superintendent of this Province to undertake the works necessary for supplying the City of Auckland with water according to the plan detailed in the report of Mr. James Stewart. Question put.

Agreed to. Mr. King moved, That in the opinion of this Committee, it is desirable that, pending the completion of the Water Works, measures should be taken to save and utilize the supply of water now obtainable from springs in ana immediately adjoining the town, and that His Honor the Superintendent should be requested to take steps necessary to accomplish that purpose. Question put.

Agreed to. Mr. Cadman moved, That the resolution! adopted and the evidence taken before this Committee be reported to the Council. On motion of Mr. Cadman, the Committee adjourned t» 2.45 p.m. this day, for the purpose of allowing the Chairman, to prepare a report for the Committee's adoption. Daniel Pollen, Chairman.

AGENTS FOR THE « NEW-ZEALANDER." AUCKLAND—Mr. M. Somerville, corner of Shortland and Queen-streets. Mr. H. Coolahau, Queen-street Wlurf. Mr. A. Somerville. Upper Queen-street. Mr. T. W. Doonin, general dealer, HobKj street, (opposite the ««Governor Browne. Hotel) PARNELL—Mr. G. Smith, general dealer. NEWMARKET—Mr. Richard Hudson. ONEHUNGA—Mrs. N. James. OTAHUHU—Mr. John Hall.