THE WATER SUPPLY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7648, 27 May 1886, Page 3

THE WATER SUPPLY.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—l saw by recent report* of the City Council meetings that it is their intention to extend the Ponsonby reservoir, and erect a pump to foroe the water into a reservoir on Mount Eden, so aa to supply the higher levels of the city. Surely this is a short-' sighted policy, when we have a gravitation supply from the Nihotopu, which would flow to a reservoir on Mount Eden without having to be pumped twice. lam aware that some persons state that the supply at Nihotopu is limited, but there is a stream within about 30 chains of it which could be easily diverted into Nihotopu, and is equal to one-half of the Nihotopu supply. Then there is the Waitakerei river, which could be connected with the Nihotopu without any great engineering difficulty, thus giving ( » supply sufficient for the city for all time. The watersheds of those streams could be easily acquired by the Counoil at from £1 to £2 per acre, excepting a piece of kauri bush, which could be bought cheap after the kauri bush is cut off. The ratepayers should raise their voices against this useless expenditure of thousands of pounds, knowing as they must, that the supply from the Western Springs is only a very limited supply, and must in a few years be so polluted that it cannot be used as a supply for the city any longer. It is to be hoped that His Worship the Mayor and the few councillors who advocate a gravitation supply will succeed in preventing this useless expenditure, and give us a supply ad libitum for the higher levela of the city.—l am, Ac, Aqua Pura.