THE BOROUGH WATER SUPPLY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 1, Issue 143, 24 August 1880, Page 3

THE BOROUGH WATER SUPPLY.

The Borough Engineer (Mr. C. E. Fooks) has been at last rewarded for his care and watchfulness of the Borough waterworks, by seeing a foot or more of water in the reservoir at the south corner of the Domain. For the last fortnight the labor gang, by Mr. Fooks’ direction, have been puddling the more shingly basins with clay, cutting and puddling channels, so that the absorptive nature of the gully bottom may be neutralised in its effect on the scheme as far as possible. The puddling of the basins prevented absorption to a great extent, and the channels brought the water down the gully more rapidly than it would have come had only the wide natural watercourse been depended upon. For many daj s the stream failed to pass the deep basin just this side the cricket ground, and a most aggravating peculiarity in regard to this presented itself. Over night the water would recede sometimes a chain or more, while during the day it would make again, rising a good number of inches, only, however, to fall during the night, and go back all the distance it had come the previous day. The recent gale seems, however, to have done good service in wiping away this difficulty. The freshet in the river brought down a large quantity of clay, and the stream now ' flowing is of a thick, muddy character, depositing a copious sediment that must materially aid the puddling process Mr. Fooks himself initiated. In fact, it is to the clay brought down by the freshet puddling

the bottom of the gully rapidly that we attribute the filling of the reservoir. The water is still flowing thick and heavy, and in a big stream. All the channels cut by the men are full, and carrying a large volume of clayey water, in marked contrast to the clear but comparatively insignificant trickle of last week. A. few-more days, and the Borough Council will be able to drink prosperity to the scheme in the Mayor’s champagne, and sing a song of triumph over the success of the works. Already the water has backed up a good way round the knoll in the middle of the lower gully, which is intended to remain as an ornamental island, and in some of the basins further up stream enthusiastic swimmers will be glad to learn there are from three to five feet of water.