LINING OF WATER MAINS

Taranaki Daily News, 29 August 1933, Page 9

LINING OF WATER MAINS

STRATFORD DEMONSTRATION. An invention, simple but ingenious, to prevent encrustation of water mains by lining thtem with cement after they have been thoroughly cleaned was demonstrated to the Stratford Borough Council last night by means of a moving picture. The method and the instrument with which the pipes are cement-lined were evolved by a member, Mr. W. T. Tait, and the chief engineer of the Sydney Water Board. It was pointed out by the demonstrators, Messrs. G. H. Luke and B. Harkness, that ordinarily the life of a cast-iron main was 40 years, but after 10 to 15 years it was so-encrusted that it had only half its initial capacity. The average cost of laying a new 4-inch main was £lBOO a mile, while cement lining cost at the most £4OO a mile inclusive of everything. The pipes were not taken out of the ground. It was estimated that the method would save the Sydney board £250,000 a year. The Stratford council has to deal with a problem in the 9-inch main which supplies the borough, but Mr. Harkness could not tell the council off-hand what the cost of cement-lining such a main would be. The council subsequently decided to take a cut from the main to ascertain its condition.