THE DRAINAGE QUESTION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3135, 25 April 1878, Page 3

THE DRAINAGE QUESTION.

The forowing letter appeared in the Lyllelton Times this lnciiiiug : — .'StE,— Mr Clark's report on the drainage of Curistchurch has leen CTatl by me with tho greatest pnssible care. Your leading avtiiles of Ai)ri! C aud 11, commenting' upon it have received no fc less attention at my hand*. You will pardon me when I assert that I c-innot endorse the whole of your remarks. One would imasing from your criticisms that Mr Clark's scheme", as embraced in his report, was entirely novel in character, and ihat no scheme of a like kind for the drainage of Christchurch had ever bedu before tho pu-.-lic. Permit mo to imdeeeive you. On September, 13, 1871, whilo acldrestin-j a -r.ublic moetin^ in the Jlnsio Hall on tho drainage question I gave it as niy opinion that the sch(-m« then before the citizens (Mr Bray's) could only be looked upoa as a temporary expedient, and that as sucii it was too costly. I was requested nt the meeting to suggest a system of draiwUo in lieu of- the one which I condemned. On Sept. 21 I forwardod a letter to the City Conr.uil propounding a sclmino, at tlio sama time apologising for its crudeix-.N*. The loiter >vas read nt a jneefcint-- ot the Council held ou Sejit. 25, nnd i'onsideratiou postponed until nexr, meetir g. At that meeting (two of the presiiit member.'! of the Braiaagd Boanl beinij iv attendant-) tho then Ma.vor rciniiifed that "He was sire the Council wove very thi-ik'ul J'or the i.terost t>fceu by Dp Pmjikish in this subject, but he thought "thai ge itlsainii co';W hardly have ba^n in carnesr. in soius parrs of his letter. The suherae wlii hDr Praukidh prop scd was not suited to the requiroinont.s of (he city." Without cli.soussiou tho maiter <iropyml, w.ul th<i lo'te*.- v.a-j, I , take ir., co-isigu'id x, ■> the vasto papor l asaot, as uir.vorthy of 1 urhlLer rof.icv 1 1, however, g.u'nei ipubli ;ifcy thr .-agh t.ho nowspapTJ. After a i.-ivour-able report from Mr Hlacketr. the -'oniKjil adopied Mr.JJrav's sc]ia:uo, am \h.i woria rocoaimcudod i-y him v/cre Ciir.ii. ii out. Having- fni ed, howovor, to supply tho want. To;- which thoy ware caUtd i;ito exiatenoL!-— thus v ru'yiu^ my prcdiotiou— sfr Carruthorr* win-reqncsie ; t;> provide another system or dr-tina'je. Por reazoiis repeatedly st;tti-d in public i opposed his Kclicui", and a iargo numbrr oi ! ii low cit'-s«i-"5 • lulovsart' my- views.' 131 conseq'i- v.-jo <<li a res-intidirpisfr-eilut a uieeliug of iuiluomial rule- I pay«jrs a coni'iiitro.*' v.ms appo'iuu-d 16 wait upon the I l)riiin*iir< Uoai-d. The result of that inserview «a*-. ths *uivit>tiou nail to Sir Clark to report nyoii tho i whole quostio-j. Mr Ckrk has been to Christ- I church, and his report is before iv«. I shall now i ask you to co:iip.u-^ Iho 'following 1 cztr-c's /r -m my) lett-.'i'to tho r .;n,y.<;o*nic;i with Blr Clark's i^p rt • - lvom-Pr t'r.mkish'.s letter laid before the '.'lirisfcbiu-c'd City Comcil, Septeiiibor, 1871 :-r :*: Diicharge of sov.v.ge into. tho Estuary incxpa<ljont. —It :t were *i)o.=i:i!j!e, howovisr, t.> oonvry the city di-a'na -c.to tiio 'Sst-nary at a.ivasonable e-i*t. X tldnt, fr-'in a s'liri'm-y point ol view, it woiil**! ha oiK'.n to Kcnous objjclioii. Tlie Hea'thcofe* aisd Avon ln.in<j tiila' rivara a consider.iblo po U,»n of ttie scy.'-itjo •f/.v.ihl ho i'.epositecl'iipy.i the lo >v ma-shy .sjron" '1 n/'ji->:nt, .whore it could 110 ft possibly ho dco"do'i"3«l.'on ace >v.nb of the nature of the soil, v/ouM wiihout cl \\l4 |.rove vecy : pivj uclici-il t,<>. health, ar.d >vou'dj'd>.ir!jji; the preva"enco. of oustorly wn.ls-, ai:oatth« ro«idu;ifs in Ch-.':stch'irch. -Endless liiig .tion wonltl b ■ iho result, ana step 3 w,,nld laive to be'tako'i to abatu the nu:-auco at the expenso oftha cityrat'j:. ! n.yor3." : '■ S-hdhills io }y ii3cd tor disposal oJ i-cwajß."— .My p-ojj-.-Eal, is ;h:it a covered drain or main sower .shall I'G oarrkd fruiu" ths. centre ot the city lo the 5.iu1'..i".1.-3, T.-".ihiii a .-:ho.t distance. 1 f HarfOod'adra:n.to tho roservd made for the deposit of ni-<ht soil, which iv;scrvo embraces, I believe, seven a - res oi' saudhiils, and up m which the works necessary for insuring n. complete and succe-sful system of A raiiiage luighfc he erocted. That with, such a short drain, a fall of from twelve to iittaen I'eet par inilo. inighfc -atVly be calculated upon, and tbe fall even incr- ased it under the advice of a competent engineer it -eemert necessa y. That a reservoir sufficiently large to hold the quantity of sewage likely to be dix-baiged by the Christcburch main sewer iv forty-eight hoiu-4 be c instructed, such reservoir to be built with concrete blocks, 'i'h-it, to Mich reservoir not only tho liquid sewag.*) but likewise ' h-t night-soil or solid sewage bo conveyed by the Christchurch. main sewer. That the; liquid sewage ba raised by centrifugal pumps" worked by windmills ou the 'priuci-jle laid down by MrLor.i of ■Waltham, in hispa'entof a recont date. That an ei.dlM.ss belt, to whi'.-h iron or zinc, cup-t are attached, be employi'd for raising- the solid sewage, in the same way as the mud was raised from the bed of the river Thames- dtuia< the formation of the Thames embank' nut. That a 12 or ltf horsepower eng-in.9 be provided to raise tho sewage whan there is not*, eniitg I,*1 ,* wind to work the windmills. i. That a wooden trout-'h, 500 yards in' length, b 3 ein-"l-loyo'i to convey th>> liquid fwvras;& clear ot th<^ works, where it shall bo aischargL-d upon the sand, aud -whence it will speedily disappear. Should it be found expedient, the liquid a:id solid sewiigo in ght be raised at the same time, and discharged upou r.ho skjkl, tiiereby reaileriiig what is now bat a wild and bairen .waste, to a irreater or l«us-.r degree, fertile aud capable of .cultivation." "iieinoval of Storm Water.— l should do3*m it very necessary for a successful scheme of drainage I that storm-water and ordinary sewage bo kept, us far as practicable, entirely separate, an I should an ■ excessive quantiiy ot artesian water bo allowed to gan the hide vhiumsls it should al6ng with the storm-water, be caiT;ed off fiom the north 1 nd of the city io the Avon, aud from the south end to tho 4 Ferry road drain by tho present surface channels." " JJisposal of Excreta. — Tho a-rangeineuts for conveying 1 the soli'l as well as liquid sewajre to the main sewer would ba as follows :— Each house should be provided with one or more -water-closets consti'iicfcf d on the same principle as those in use in lanro i'Jut'lish towns. Each -closet to be fla-shed witli water obtahied Ironi a tank capable of holdiag [ fr.)a* 10 to 20 (jullons, and situate at the back of I each closet j . water to bo procured by means of a ouc-iach pipe laid on to the nearest urtcs ; au well. This sewage, along with '-rdiuary house sowage, to be discharged iuto branch sowers in, couuecbion with this main sewer." i ■ - . 1 I A onvsory glancJ a"fc tlie above extracts will, I think; establish the fact; that there exists between the revorc furnished by. Mr Clark aud the system 1 sjdvoaate-l' by inysclf a great similarity,' which I I iu-jasine tell* iv wiy favour. * Divest Mr Clavk'a I rei^ort of the no. doub.h exceedingly voluablo sagges■fiions as to- the size-, o.f; pipes, and- eewer3, kind of traps, mode of ventilation, &c, &c, to be esnploj ed 4-matters of detail proper to engineering, oE which I prof ass no knowledge -rob it of the literary flowers iVith which Mr CJiv k has so freely sprinkled it, aud what.reinains? ;• i' t * : ■•■■ . '. -> % : I think, bir, I have concluavely demonstrated that, on four essentials of a system of drainage for Chvistchureh Mr Cinrk and; myself are iv perfect accord. j Do we not both for sanitary reasons condemn the pollution or tho estuary ? Do we not both rtcottimenfl rhA Sandhills for the ultimate disposal of tho sewnge? Aro .we not --greed that tbe admixture of -storth- water aud ordinary sewag.*) is injudic ons, and that the storm-water should be removed by existing water-courses ? Do no • our views harmonise as to the disposal of ■water-close r . dejecta-, inasmu h, as wo both intijimt'', that the least; objectionable and cheapest mode of disposiuir of it, is to allow it to become mixed with til-** ordinary sewaga ? If so, then I repeat that thu conclusions arrived at iv your leading columns are erroneous, and your ieiuar lse tmju.st. It y-m bcl.uve Mr Clark's systcn to be almost perfect, n,s your articles imply, I ask you in com > on fai-ness to widhd-aw your stateiuent that "Mr Clark's report diaporsos. into thin air all tUo otlur schamos ever off -re-.i to the public with out! exception, that exception bring the first pampini** s^-h me of Mr Curnuhers; " anullikewuo ask you to remove the impreiir-i-m c<-nveytd by yo\i that my scho : o is umou£ those which *--r '-.iark desit'iiatcd as hein^r "of the moss wild and ridiculous character." — x am, &c, J. D. FRA.NKISH. Chris church, April 15. [Our remarks were intended 'to apply only to the schom-s before the Drainage Board, which were submitto'i by tliat body to Mr Clark for r.'poi--.. Ti;n schrtiue of Dr l-'ninkish was us^cr buforo the Drainage Board, as his letter clearly shows.— Ed. i-T-J ' -