THE BOROUGH BATHS.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5349, 4 February 1916, Page 4

THE BOROUGH BATHS.

AUXILIARY WATER. SUPPLY. The new auxiliary water supply scheme for the Borough baths, at the corner of Palmerston North road and Albert street, is now practically completed, and the baths were filled for the first time this week from the n*-w supply. The scheme was devised some considerable time ago in order to ielieve the drain, experienced every summer, on the apparently decreasing ordinary town supply. The dimensions of the baths being much greater than those of the reservoir, it generally meant that while the baths were being failed, once a fortnight and times a little ottener. that only a lim •ted quantity of water was available • for domestic purjioses The last couple of seasons the position became acute | Whether the new source of sumfiv will come up to expectations remits! to be seen. The water is taken wliat is known as the town creek Iha original source being a spring on the Balfour Estate, near the manager’s residence. Fears have been ex pressed as to the suitab of this water f or bathiM purposes not only on accountTS lime qualities but because of the ah leged pollution of the stream The scheme therefore has been subjected in certain quarters to considerable criticism. and the Public Health Department officers were asked to ex w e& lif n r l s ,,ni ° n on T»» District Health Officer inspected the locality, and made certain recommendations as to the removal or abatement of likely pollutions along the course of the creek. Notices have been served on the property owners affected, and it is understood that most of the recoinmendations have or are being earned out. At the corner of Arthur street, opposite Mrs H. F. Davidson’s property, a substantial concrete culvert has re placed the old wooden structure, and here lias been constructed what serves the purposes of a dam. A flood gate has been erected, and the water --s backed up for at least four chains, to a depth of three feet. The water then passes through a concrete catchment chamber nine or ten inches below the connecting service pipe to prevent any stray leaves or foreign matter passing into the pipes. In the catchment chamber is a gauze or •deve. of 400 meshes to the square inch, and there is a rubber expansion stopper, with an inch connecting pipe. Six-inch earthenware pipes convey the water from the intake to the baths, the pipes running along Arthur street and through various private properties. At the south corner of the latter is a filter bed. 9 feet wide. 14 feet long, and 4 feet 6 inches deep, and in the construction of which four, teen yards of washed gravel were used. On Wednesday morning the bath« were overflowing, btit only one fifth of the flow from the intake was afterwards going down to the baths the remaining quantity going down the creek. Tt is intended to regulate the fiow so that, n quantity will be running continuously into the baths and the creek simultaneously. However. the water can be conveniently turned off from the creek when the latter requires a good cleaning out, which it does at times. It is stated that there is not the same quantity of limestone in the auxiliary supply as in the case of the town water, and if this is so. and the supply does not become polluted, the baths should become more popular with the public. With proper attention and regulation of the supply, the „ scheme is anticipated to work well. It might be just as well for the Borough Council to have wire netting placed round the rail fences on either side «|f the dam at the concrete culvert to remove the possibility of children falling into deep water. The total cost of the whole scheme is estimated to amount to less than €2OO.