STREET CRIER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23838, 13 December 1940, Page 6

STREET CRIER

WATER IN WAGGONS DEVONPORT SUPPLY STRANGE BOROUGH SCENES BACK TO THE PRIMITIVE A door-to-door distribution of city water was made from tank-waggons in Devonport yesterday afternoon, following a decision of the Devonport Borough Council the previous night to obtain at least ."000 gallons each day until the Lake Pnpuke water is improved. The town clerk", Mr. A. 11 Wilson, said eight or nine large storage tanks would be set up at strategic points for the easier distribution of water to householders. It was expected they would be in position to-day. An appeal for tanks has been launched by the Takapuna Borough Council. As in Devonport, they will be set up at central points for the distribution of water from the city. The Mayor, Mr. J. Guiniven. and the foreman of works were appointed a special committee to inako arrangements for supplies. Pots, Billies and Bottles Scenes of enthusiasm marked the progress of the first tank-watigon through the streets of Devonport late yesterday afternoon. Preceded by a crier ringing a bell. the waggon was greeted everywhere hv householders carrying every kind of water container. The cry "drinking water!" and the clang of the bell brought many from considerable distances. One man arrived by car with his family, bearing a collection of pots, billies and bottles, and explained that he was acting by proxy for his neighbours. Twelve taps were fitted to the tank by Borough Council workmen and the distribution went on apace. Two petrol waggons were secured for the carriage of supplies from a. hydrant near the vehicular ferry. Their combined capacity was 1800 gallons, but Mr. A. McDonald, deputy-chairman of the Devonport Water Committee, said yesterday that it was the council's intention to obtain more tanks and waggons if this was necessary to supply residents. The pump in Church Street would also ho requisitioned under the new scheme to save time and inconvenience. An Earlier Proposal Permission was given by the Health Department to use water from the pump for drinking after cldorination, he added, and when arrangements were completed the water would be taken from the pump reservoir to the distribution tanks. The city supplies would be used to supplement drawings from the reservoir. The reservoir had a capacity of 1400 gallons, and the pump could supply 700 gallons an hour. Recalling negotiations carried on in the past for supplying the North Shore with the city's filtered water, the city waterworks engineer. Mr. A. D. Mead, said the proposal had been for a loin, main across the harbour. There would be a gravity iced from the Waitakere filters over the upper harbour to Birkenhead. the highest point on the North Shore. From there, feeder mains would run to the borough reservoirs at Devonport, Birkenhead and Northcote, and to Takapuna if one were built there. Assistance in Emergency The harbour section of the main would be carried from near Hobson- \ ilie, rather than from Kauri Point , where the Birkenhead main began, because of the lesser difficulty from an engineering point ot view, Mr. Mead added. The harbour section of the main would be duplicated to obviate trouble ill the event of a break, and a further precaution would be the provision of a reservoir at Birkenhead capable oi holding one full day's supply. The price to the North Shore boroughs had been fixed nt Is Id per 1000 gallons, with a reduction to Is it the demand warranted it. Kvery assistance had been given Devonport in the present emergency scheme, and waterworks men were in attendance at the vehicular ferry landing hydrant to help in loading supplies. The Auckland Harbour Board agreed to waive its iolj fees on the vehicles used for transporting water from the city, and a similar gesture was made by the Devonport Steam Terry Company, Limited, which will carry the tank-waggons free.