SEWAGE OVERFLOW.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 3440, 23 May 1898, Page 4

SEWAGE OVERFLOW.

OFFICIAL’ REPORT’ AND RECOM- ' MEN DATIOXS. Ratepayers, will be interested in the official report on the recent sewage overflow, which has cost them about £1260. The committee appointed by the. City Council to inquire into the matter of the escape of sewage in Victoria street on Sunday, the 17th April, whereby the cellar of Messrs Bingi" Harris and Go, was flooded, has'reported to the Council that tbe.ciroumatahbes causing the overflow were as follow i-On Saturday) . the 16th April, at about noon, a' burst occurred bn the sewage delivery main in Brandon ; street. The cause -of . the burst was a defective pipe,- the broken portioh being fouiid to be badly honeycombed, although there was no indication of defect on either the exterior or interior surface of the pipe. - The repairs to this pipe necessitated stopping all the machinery on the western section.' The effect of this stoppage was to divert tWTsewage, in the section from the pumping* itlaihs and cause it to be delivered into the harbour by the outlet pipes provided for the purpose. In order to empty the pumping main; the flap-valves of the ejector had to be removed, and the inlet and outlet sluice valves opened. It followed as a matter of course that the sluice-valves should have been closed before l the 1 machinery was started again. Unfortunately this was forgotten to be'done, and the consequence was that when she'machinery was started on the following day ‘ (Sunday) the sewago found its way back from the pumping main into the sewer in Viotoria’street, and backed up into the basement of Messrs Bing, Harris and Co.’s building, flooding thq Came with sewage to a, depth ot 9in. It was an easy matter to fix upon ,the person responsible for this most unfortunate omission, as Mr - Hastwell, the engineer in charge of the machinery at the pumping station, at once" admitted that he alone Was 1 responsible. He stated that the work of repairing the burst in Brandon street was’not finished till 9, o’clock on ‘Saturday night, and that after completion Of the.Aotk.be vrent home without recollecting to close, the ejector valvoa in Viotoria streot. ,He started the machinery on the Sunday, 1 still l without recollecting that the Valves had not been closed. l 1 After making a recommendation as to what, should be done by the Council to mark its sense of the gravity of the act of forgetfulness':(as already reppitod in',these, columns);,the committee gave.the:following reasons why the Ctmnbil should not 'take the extreme course of dismissing the bfficeri—(l) -He made, no attempt to evade bis responsibility, but' at once took the entire blame On himself(2) having been in the employ of the Council" for tAo years; and having erected the whole of. the machinery, he has become thoroughly acquainted with all the details of the works, and there would be considerable inconvenience to the Corporation if another man took his place j (3) the -drainage engineer reported that he was a most competent man; and that he had previously Carried out his work most efficiently ; and (4) it was some excuse for him. that he and his staff had bad a most trying time during, tbe fortnight previous to the aooidpnt,. they l having been hard at iwork night and day for a great part of the time in, the l bursts" which occurred,at the ejector near the Te Arb rbilway stationv l ‘

With respect ti the precautions necessary for preventing' the possibility of another accident of the kind happening, the committee reported that they- had instructed the Drainage Engineer to draw up a code ot regulations which .would provide, as far as possible, for all emergencies likely to arise. The., Drainage Engineer wae also making inquiries as to the possibility of . establishing some automatic means of communication between the engine-house and the ejector stations. The committee will report further upon this matter as soon as possible, and also upon the advisability of refusing permission for water closets to be established, on any floor below the street level. The engineer recommends that in future basement' drains should not be.allowed on any portion'ot the reclaimed land. , This, however, is a matter on which the City Solicitor will require to be'Consulted,. as, also upon the question of what can be done in the ease of closets and drains already established in connection with basement floors.