TARIKI POWER SCHEME

Taranaki Daily News, 20 February 1932, Page 7

TARIKI POWER SCHEME

FIRST NORMAL SUMMER

STORAGE FACILITIES AMPLE,

REVIEW BY BOARD’S ENGINEER,

"As this summer has been the first in which the board’s plant has operated under what may-be called normal conditions, and as the season has been a dry one, the condition of the water supply has been watched with interest,” stated the Taranaki Power Board’s engineer, Mr. B. H. Goldsmith, in a report to the board yesterday. Continuing, Mr. Goldsmith said that from December 1 to February 11 the rainfall recorded at Tariki had been 12.89 inches, which fall was almost identical with that recorded in the same period in 1928-29, viz., 12.02 inches. The intervening summers, 1929-30 and 1930-31, showed much greater totals, namely.2o.BS and 16.46 inches respectively. New Plymouth had drawn power for the last time on November 21, drawing the lake down 51- inches. A fall of rain filled the lake almost immediately, and from that time to the present date the lake has been overflowing on all but nine days. During these nine days the lowest level reached had been 64 inches from the spillway. As the available draw-off was 11 to I’2 feet it would bo peen that the storage in the lake had hardly been drawn upon at all. Giving details of last month’s work Mr. Goldsmith reported that the number of consumers at January 31, 1932, was 2,144. Units generated during the month totalled 878,300. The largest daily output was 30,000 units on Saturday, January 30. The maximum demand of 1728 k.w. occurred on eleven days during the month.

Installations connected during the month were as follows, figures for the corresponding period last year being in parentheses: Milking motors, il (3); other motors, 4 (2); stoves, 1 ( —); water heaters, 1 (1); pumps, 2 (3); lighting and heating (new), 1 (2); lighting and heating (additions), 7 (16). The deviation of the high pressure lines, at the Eltliam Road-Hastings Road cornel' had been completed. Work had proceeded satisfactorily in the Mangaotea cut, 20 days being spent in sluicing, two and a half days taking out timber and one and a half days miscellaneous work.