RENEWAL OF MAINS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21289, 16 September 1932, Page 13

RENEWAL OF MAINS

CHARGE ON REVENUE , £17,000 YEARLY REQUIRED That an additional £17,000 a year will have to be found from the revenue of the city water account after the next few years for the renewal of mains was disclosed by the Mayor, Mr. G. W. Hutchison, at a meeting of the City Council last evening. He said reports had been prepared by the council's engineers upon the condition of the main pipe-lines and the reticulation in the city. The Waitakere pipe-line was now 24 years old, and the estimated life of this class of piping was from 25 to 30 years. Renewal work would, therefore, have to be started in from three to five years' time. The value of the main was £IIO,OOO, but many of the pipes only required recoating. The estimated cost of the work was £70,000, and the main would then have a further life of 20 years. The annual charge for a number of years would be £12,000. The Nihotupu main, which was of cast iron, costing £103,000, had an estimated life of 40 years. The Huia main, of steel and costing £197,000, was estimated to last 25 years. For these a renewal fund was required to be set up. The original cost of the city reticulation had been £300,000, and* the est '" mated life of the pipes 60 years. On an average their present expectation of life was put down at 30 years, many having been renewed when they were moved to the footpaths upon the construction of concrete roads. The value of this work was put down at £11,500. It would bft necessary to start soon upon the renewal of the oldest mains now in use, and £SOOO a vear should be set apart for this, making a total of £17,000, which the water account would have to provide annually after the' next few years. The Mayor remarked that it was a pity that funds which should have been available for renewal of mains had been diverted in the past to other purposes.