BOROUGH WATER SUPPLY.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXVI, Issue 18439, 24 March 1922, Page 8

BOROUGH WATER SUPPLY.

AUGMENTATION DECIDED UPON BY COUNCIL. LOAN PROPOSAL TO BE SUBMITTED Following is the report of the discussion which took place at a special meeting of the Borough Council on Wednesday evening relative to increasing thewater supply of the town. The report of the Borough Engineer (Ml N. Crofton Staveley) was published yesterday. The full Council was represented, namely : His Worship the Mayor (Mr T. B. Williams), and Crs. Luxford, Green, Sharpe, Reardon, Oakley Browne, Gohns, Silk, Burgess, Richardson, Halligan and 4>. P. Brown. The Mayor said he thought the Council should follow the advice of the late Mr Mestayer in what it did, and the Borough Engineer was following on those lines. Some work was urgent. Requested by Cr. Reardon, the Borough Engineer further amplified his pro. posals under <£ A and B.” "A” provided for' the maximum demand lor 20 years. The first item was the raising of the Okehu dam by 15 feet. The foundations were all ready. Raised 15 feet, the storage would be trebled to 15 million cubic feet. ’1 his was the cheapest way of getting a reserve supply of water. The next item, “auxiliary storage,” required some explanation. Fifteen million gallons would be impounded at Okehu and fi ve millions at WestmereThe remaining 18 millions would have to be stored in the Maungahoropito or Ok-diu Valleys. As the town was a long way from the headworks, the Council would be wise to increase its Westmere reserve, say to 10 million cu- '!' c „ iee -• s wou '<i mean another £12,000 addition to item (C). If the foundations for a loan at Maungahoropito were bad it would be better to spend the money at Westmere. The second item on the schedule was the duplication of the trunk mains, £85,500. The first section was a 16-inch main, the next 12-inch. He proposed an extra 12-in line on both sections. The 15mch niain to town obviously should be duplicated, as the town might at any time be cut off from water by a break Mr Staveley proceeded to refer to his proposal for a water tower for the high lulls. He considered that with the advent of cheap electricity a tower and pumping plant would be the best means As to a filtration plant, he had no defi-

nite-price, and he quoted in round figures. £lO,OOO, although one unofficial quotation was £7500 and an official quotation was £16,000. Cr Luxford thought the item could be deleted. Cr. Oakley Browne • Do the thing thoroughly. & The Engineer said some kind of filtration was necessary, and a larger settling tank at Westmere would help Replacing of many of the castiron pipes was necessary owing to heavy incrustation. New extensions were necessary in which case ball valves should be used for hydrants as in Wanganui East. , C*'-. Halligan questioned the wisdom or this ironi a sanitary point of view, because if the main were shut off at any time contaminated water might get into the mains. The Engineer considered it was a very remote contingency. Schedule B. he proceeded, provided for a 10-12-year period at a cost of £112,000. H e did not recommend “B” as against “A” because Okehu should be developed to its greatest extent. Cr. Burgess moved to the effect that a proposal should oe placed before the ratepayers.- Io raise the Okehu dam by 17 or 18 feet, to provide auxiliary storage at Okehu, to add to the present tank at Westmere by increasing it to 10 million gallons, to duplicate the present main, to carry out a high level scheme by a water tower on Ba-stia Hill, to provide a liltration plant, to replace mains and hydrants, a total cost of about £169,000, the engineer to prepare estimates for a lean to be placed before the ratepayers. Cr. Burgess said steps should be taken at once to increase the reserve supply at Okehu. The Council should not consider putting in a larger duplication main than 12inch.

Cr. Luxford seconded Cr. Burgess’ 'motion. He oonsidaied that if the loan were sanctioned there was no need co raise the money all at once, but year by yea”, as would be necessary. Schedule “ B” was only a partial scheme, and was not worth considering, unless the Council had to raise all the money at once. The annual cost of a filtration plant would be consideiable. He doubted whether it would be necessary to have such a large reserve at Okehu in view of the fact that the pipe line was to be duplicated. He thought that five million gallons there would be ample. However, these were details. Cr. Green said he did not pose as an expert engineer, but he supported Cr. Burgess’ proposal. Jf a comprehensive policy were not adopted, the Council would be very short-sighted. The first work was the raising of the dam. This year, at Okehu, the water had practic-* ally not ceased to overflow the dam and this without the Maungahoropito. The water was therefore there, but the means to get it in had to be providedTlie Westmere reservoir should be extended, and the engineer said it could be extended to 10.000,000 ft. Water for the higher levels of the town was essential and a 60-lb pressure was ample for lire purposes on a three-storey house. He did not approve of any water scheme for the town which relied on pumping. He considered there was enough water to be had at Okehu and its vicinity for the next 50 years. He, too, approved of carrying out the work as requiredWhen the reservoir at Westmere was completed and the water did not clear itself it would be time then to consider a filtration plant. The expenditure of loan money could be limited to £lOO,OOO in the next two years, and ample water for five years would be provided. Cr. Richardson asked a question as to the average annual rainfall, disputing Cr. Green's estimate as to the capacity of the Okehu watershed. In icply, the Engineer said he estimated that a population 0f.542,0U0 would be provided lor. The Mayor asked a question as to the extra cost of completing “A” after completing “B,” and in reply the Engineer said it only meant that the cost of scheme B would be increased in itself, but would not add to the cost of “A.”

A FAR SIGHTED COUNCIL OF 1902. Cr. Oakley Browne said ho gave the resolution his whole-hearted support. Lt was no us© cheeseparing. He had inspected Okehu and had come to the conclusion that a good deal of foresight had been used. The people of Wanganui to-day should be glad that the City Fathers of 20 years ago had looked so far ahead. He was surprised at the small storage capacity at Okehu, but if Mr Mestayer’s report were brought up to date Wanganui would have a very fine supply. It was necessary to conserve all the water. Th© valleys laid themselves out. for that. It was a shame that the Council had not done more afforestation instead of letting the place be over-run by fern, which was menaced by fire. Fifty acres a year should bo planted, and he did not think it would be wrong to let the fern be killed by grazing cattle, small areas to be fenced off at a time and then planted. In regard to the Westmere reservoir, he considered the 10,000,000 proposal was wise. As to filtration, why should the Council cheesepare? There were many complaints as to the water. It would be wise for the Council to get authority to raise all the money, whether it was acted on at once or not. He con. sidered the Council was fortunate in having the land at Okehu and in having material on the spot for making concrete. The ratepayers should be told what ihe rate was going to be. There would be objection by some ratepayers to another loan, but he would be prepared to take the platform and advocate it. TOO SMALL A PIPE.

Cr. Richardson said he would like to support the motion up to a certain point. It was absolutely necessary to go on with increasing the height of the dam, adding to the reservoir at Westmere, and developing the means of bringing the water in. It was the size of the proposed pipe that he disputed. The mover of the motion had not considered the corrosion in the old pipes. Cr. Burgess would say there was none. Cr. Burgess: That is so. I have seen pipes after being in th© ground for 33 years. Cr. Oakley Browne said the engineer had stated the pipes would last another 40 years. v Cr. Richardson pursued his lin© of argument, saying that when the old pipes were done the Council would be in exactly the same position as it was in now. He feared that when corrosion set in it would be rapid. He considered the Council should put in a 16-inch pipe from Okehu to Westmere. As to the fern on th© reserve, if it were possible to eradicate the fern all at once there would be uo water. Cr. Oakley Browne; Do 50 acres a year. Cr. Richardson said all wanted to see a better supply for Wanganui, and he urged that the Council should seriously consider the size of the pipe it put in. POLICY SUMMED UP. Cr. Gohns said he had listened attentively, and the whole thing summed itself up into a few questions. Where wa« the water supply for the town and suburbs to come from ? By completing the Okehu they would have sufficient for 50 years. As to the merits of “A” and : ‘B.” he favoured “A,” if they

could finance it, because th® larger a scheme was the better it was. “A” covered all of “B.” All the Council was doing was to lay down the policy to be followed. Dealing with the corrosion of pipes, he thought Cr. Richardson was wrong and the engineer assured the Council Cr. Richardson was wrong. The Council should be guided by its experts. As to afforestation, he agreed with Cr. Oakley Browne and considered the proposal was quite an easy one. He instanced a case where pine trees had beaten the fern. When the watershed was planted with trees, Wanganui would be assured of one of the finest water supplies in the Dominion at my rate for 50 years. If Cr. Richardson’s policy were adopted, there would be no water for Durie Hill, which was the most neglected part of the Borough. The Council should pay great attention to Durie Hill. It had waited long enough. Cr. Silk heartily supported the proposal. The scheme was in the hands of a good engineer, Mr Staveley, who was following out Mr Mestayer’s report. Cr. C. P. Brown said that at the risk of being unpopular he would have to say he was not satisfied that the possibilities of the pumping scheme at Virginia Lake had been exhausted. He agreed with Cr. Gohns that the bigger the scheme was the better, provided it could be financed. “A” scheme was a--20-year scheme. He was afraid the rate on a water scheme would strike the town before the power rate disappeared. He wanted to know what the town was burdening itself with for a 10-year\ period as against a 20-year one. He was not satisfied about Virginia Lake as a pumping station not being the cheapest for the town.

The Mayor said ho approved of an “ apron” at Virginia Lake in order to tide the town over any break-down in the main. He would always be opposed to doing away with ths fern at Okehu until they had trees. He would not agree to allowing stock to graze there. Even if “A” were adopted, the work would be done piecemeal. That was why he suggested “B.” to tide over financial difficulties. He strongly advocated filtration and would not be a party to any scheme which did not provide for filtration. He commended Cr. Richardson’s suggestion regai’ding corrosion and the size of the pipe was a sound argument. Ina further explanation the engineer said he had considered Cr. Richardson’s suggestion very carefully, and he thought the Council would be doing the right thing in keeping to the 12-in. The corrosion which had taken place so far was on the outside of the pipes, and had occurred in the swampy ground behind Kai Iwi. The pipes now made were swathed in hessian and were much better than the ones first made. Any leaks which had occurred had come from the outside of the pipes. As to affqrestation, he was optimistic enough to say that the whole area would be done in 20 years. A start had been made. The year before the fire 4000 were planted and last year 15,000 had been planted. He hoped these would not be burned. As to the Virginia pumping scheme, this w r as a “war measure” and was sound, but the Council would not be wis© in adopting it unless as an emergency measure.

Cr. C. P. Brown said the rates had to be considered. The Engineer reported that he did not advocate this proposal. Cr. Gohns said there had been many slips on the pipe line and perhaps when the line was opened up again more s’-ips would occur and break the pipe line. Therefore, the apron proposal at Virginia Lake should be considered. The Engineer said there was a danger which would have to be provided lor by a reserve near town. The clay apron along the road frontage to stop the leakage would he an inexpensive proposal which could even be left out of the loan. Cr. Halligan heartily approved of the resolution. Cr. Burgess replied briefly. Referring to the life of pipes, he said it was indefinite. No one knew. They had been in existence in France for 60 years and he had seen pipes dug out in Melbourne after 33 years, because they were too small. Jt had been intended to scrap them, but in such a good condition were they that they were simply recoated and used again. Cr. Richardson said if he voted against the motion it would be purely on the ground that he disapproved of the size of the pipe. When put the motion was carried. Cr. Richardson alone voting against it.