NORTH SHORE WATER

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 152, 17 September 1927, Page 1

NORTH SHORE WATER

SCHEME SUBMITTED WAITAKERES FAVOURED That a major scheme for the supply of water to North Shore boroughs be embarked upon was agreed by the North Shore Boroughs Water Board yesterday. It was also resolved that the Waitakere scheme be the one submitted. The board’s engineer, Mr. F. E. Powell, recommended the Waitakere scheme in preference to supplies from Rangitopuni and Lake Pupuke. PIPED ACROSS HARBOUR The engineer stated tnat the offer of the City Council to supply water at 6d a 1,000 gallons was a very favourable one. The water would have to be taken at the break-pressure tank, which was 212 feet below* the water level of the Waitakere dam, and then across the harbour to a point near Birkdale.

From there it would be conveyed to a dam to be built at Birkenhead, and then reticulated throughout the boroughs. The cost of the scheme was estimated at £220,000, which in addition to the first year’s interest, would bring the price up to £236,500. With an 18-inch main, it is considered that a total population of 35,000 could be served when the main was working at its full gravitation capacity. The installation of a boosting pump at the lowest level of the main would ensure sufficient water for 70,000 people. Mr. Powell recommended that the pumping stations at Lake Pupuke be retained in the event of a breakdown lasting longer than the storage time at the various local reservoirs.

The total cost of the Rangitopuni scheme was estimated at £.263,300. The main objection the Water Commission found to that scheme, said the engineer, was that the water came from a contaminated area. PURE SUPPLY ESSENTIAL

The chairman of the board, Mr. E. Aldridge, Mayor of Devonport, said that the question of the future water supply for North Shore had to be faced. The reasonable course, he considered, was to place any scheme they agreed to before the borough councils concerned.

Mr. H. E. Greenslade, Mayor of Northcote, was of the opinion that they should not rush the matter. Mr. E. G. Skeates, Mayor of Birkenhead, said they were considering a scheme that was to cost a quarter of a million. He felt it was a ridiculous expenditure and that they should investigate every source beforehand. It was resolved that the Waitakere scheme be submitted to the borough councils concerned, the engineer to explain the scheme fully to representatives of the four borough councils.