WATER FOR TAURANGA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14746, 31 July 1911, Page 5

WATER FOR TAURANGA.

A ' SCHEME , COMPLETED. j [PROM OUR ; OWN ; • CORRESPONDENT.} ;■; ■ ■:■;'...•'' . Tauranga, Friday. "i The gravitation water supply for the town' of Tauranga is now, after the expenditure of a loan of '£12,000,. an accomplished; fact,: and on Thursday, in the; presence of Mr.' H. Munro Wilson (engineer), the- Mayor,; councillors,, and others, the water .was; turned, on. . , . . ', ... . • The supply is derived from the .Waiorohistream, which has Its source in a spring at, the foot of the ,Otane\vainuku mountain,', about 16 miles from, the Tauranga township, and flows down a rather precipitous gorge surrounded ■by bush. . The stream is but little - affected; by '.' either flood "or, drought. An analysis shows the water to be of first-class quality, and there is a dryweather J flow .of . eight ; .million gallons per, : day. The Borough Council aimed at sup-' plying about, 6000 people, having in view; the extension of the town and the -increase.: of population, and provision was made for.; a supply of 250,000 gallons per day.;;;' The| headworks are eight miles from the outer borough boundary, 285 ft above- high water, mark. As there is no ; object in storing water in this case,' no reservoir was constructed, but a settling basin is provided by the construction of a concrete dam, three feet six inches above normal water level, and ten feet above,' foundation level. The still" water in this basin is allowed to 'percolate through a rubble filter and grid into the, filtering chamber,, and then through a 32-mesh brass screen to the intake pipes, Bin in diameter. *: .•'''- .. .;• '■"■"- '■'''"' *■"' ":"■" ,• For the first, two miles the , pipe-track, traverses a precipitous gorge,.necessitating a considerable amount of rock benching, the pipes being sunk under cover on the inner, edge of tiie benching. The Waiorohi stream was crossed three times in this length, and spanned by trussed bridges, each about ,70ft Jong. From there the pipes are continued along the " banks of the.; stream for a couple of miles, then along the main Pye's Pa Road, into town. . _ The reticulation is about' eight miles in extent, 6in pipes being used in the principal street mains,.while cross streets are provided with 3in pipes One hundred and twenty fire hydrants are provided. A pressure of 1201b to the * square inch is obtained on the Strand, the principal business street, and 1051b on Cameron Road, one of the most'elevated parts. Owing to the- good; spirit displayed by land-owners along the, pipe-track, "the Council has been fortunate in securing way leaves, most- of the set-, tiers accepting a tap in lieu of compensa-j; With a view; to conserving their interests,: it is probable that the Council will, ap-1 proach the Government with the object of acquiring more land in the vicinity of the source of the supply. ■ ' ■ The scheme was carried through by Mr. H. Munro . Wilson, of Auckland. .The Mephan Ferguson Spiral Steel Pipe Com- < pany, of Wanganui, supplied the pipes and,; carried out.the work. In the long * pipe-; track, totalling, with reticulation, 16 miles,. there are about 3000 joints, and the indications all point to good work, and a. successful • installation. The; company is ; respon- ■: sible for the maintenance of the work for, three months from completion. . ,