CITY WATER DWINDLING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17700, 8 February 1921, Page 4

CITY WATER DWINDLING.

USE EXCEEDS THE SUPPLY, BAN ON GARDEN HOSES. ' HELP FOR MOUNT ALBER^ The city water supply is being redocedf considerably by the summer consrump. tion, and the position has been rendered more serious by the fact that the depletion of the Mount Albert suppiv has led to the City Council atoving thai borough to connect with its crater main*. The matter was dealt with informally »i the special meeting of the City Council I held last evening to consider the mails* of the Nihotupu dam works. In a statement made after the meet* ing, the Mayor, Mr. J. H. Gunson. said a letter had been received from the Mount Albert Borough Council, asking for permission to connect with the city mains, and stating that the position ia the borough was such that the matter was urgent. It had already prohibited the use of hoses in its district. In asking the council to consider the request as t an urgent matter. Mr. Gunson said he had asked the members to come to a decision, which could be ratified later. It was for them to say wnether the request of Mount Albert, which only took water from the city occasionally, should be granted, or whether, in view of the city's own position, it ought to be refused. He had then informed them that he had been notified by the waterworks engineer, Mr. J. Carlaw, that the water in the Waitakere dam yesterday was 18 inches below the top, and now the city was deprived of the use of the auxiliary supply front Western Springs. 2,000,000 gallons of water mors a day was going into consumption than was running into the reservoir. The council had decided, said Mr. Gunson, that the request of the Mount Albert Borough Council should b» granted, provided it was understood th« water was to be used for household purposes only, and! the prohibition on the use of hoses "in the borough should b» continued. It was also agreed that the Borough Council should be notified that it might become necessary to restrict iU supply from the city, or even to cut it off altogether. A further decision of the council was that its own consumers ahould at once be notified that no garden hoses would be permitted to ba used until further notice, the prohibition to also apply to the city parks. The supply of water at Mount. Albert, which is drawn from the Borough Council's springs, is proving unequal to the demand. The council has not drawn any water from the City Council so far during the presont season, and the consumption is now greater than the weld from the Springs. Unless housenolders am careful in their use of the water a . further restriction in the supply may be« come necessary.