MAIN WATER SUPPLY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17650, 10 December 1920, Page 8

MAIN WATER SUPPLY.

PROGRESS OP NEW DAMS, EXPEDITING CONSTRUCTION. EXTRA WATER THIS MONTH. A 'visit was paid 1 yesterday to "the Nihotupu impounding dam works by the ay or, t Mr.' J. H. Gunson, 'the, Works Committee of 'tho City Council, and several councillors. On the way out . the Waikumote cemetery, was inspected, and it was found that, considerable progress had - been ' made with? the improvements there during"tho past six montla..^^,'. At Nihotupu the, site, of the new auxiliary dam was first inspected. The roads aro now drying up, and it will bo possible to place, on the ground < the cement and other materials, such as sand, required for tho works, toward the" end of this month. ,Tho Mayor - stated that while at Nihotupu the Works Committee instructed the cily 1 engineer to lose ho timo in having the works resumed early in the New Year. An earlier re-com-mencement would bo impracticable, as the materials could not, ; ba taken out in time. It was oil that account that the works had to bo suspended in the winter. The site is right in the Nihotupu Valley, 'and on a clay road. 'Mr. Gunson added that the, work at the auxiliary dam would, under favourable conditions, be . completed in about 10 weeks, and the first good rains thereafter would fill the dam, which would have a capacity of 110,000,000 1 gallons," 1 . Tho _ party also r, visited the large impounding dam under construction in the same locality. Mr, . Gunson said that very much better progress was found to have been made of late. It would now be possible to turn on tho water from the Nihotupu stream 'v intoi the new ' intakepipe on Monday, December 20. •It .had consequently been arranged to do so, and all the Mayors and chairmen and members. of'' the various local bodied, would bo invited to be present at the ceremony of turning on the valve, • which he, Mr. Gunson, would perform., • t ■' '* This meant, said the Mayor, that- all the water in the Nihotupu stream now going to waste would bo preserved, as the walls of the dam wero 20ft. high. The Nihotupu stream was running yesterday at the rate of 3,000,000 gallons a day, and 1 the city would get the whole of that after . December 20, as well, as tho : Waitakere f,uply, where there was storage for KG,000,000 gallons, and where the reservoir was 'now full. , The* city's daily, consumption of water was 6,000,000 gallons', ' Auckland -was indeed fortunate in bavin? a pure and good water supply in the Waitakero Ranges, and, even if there wore; a temporary shortage this summer and nest, the citizens had the satisfaction of knowing that tho now'impounding dam works wero going on, and would in tho near future be still further expedited. - ~