THE Cromwell Argus. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 1870. OUR WATER SUPPLY.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 29, 1 June 1870, Page 4

THE Cromwell Argus. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 1870. OUR WATER SUPPLY.

A constant supply of pure water for domestic purposes is universally acknowledged to be absolutely essential to the sanatory wellbeing of every community. As hamlets grow into villages, villages into towns, and towns into cities, the subject of water supply assumes in each phase of progress an importance commensurate with their relative requirements. Some communities are more favonrably situated than others in regard to facilities for obtaining water, and where Nature has not made provision for man's necessities in this respect, science and engineering skill are called into requisition to aid in supplying the want. Reservoirs have to be constructed at enormous expense, and piping has to be laid down, frequently for long distances, in order to convey the water from the source of supply to the locality where it is to be used. The residents of Cromwell have for several years possessed the means of obtaining a regular and plentiful supply of water (although not of the purest description). The absence, however, of any binding contract or properly-defined stipulation as to quantity and regularity of flow has resulted just as might have been expected. We venture to assert that during the past six months—in place of the full quantity of one sluice-head which should have been kept running into the town race—not a fourth of the stipulated, quantity has been allowed to flow into it. For at least half the time mentioned, the town has been absolutely without any water from this source; and even when a limited modicum of the precious fluid has been " turned on" by some philanthropic individual to meet temporary and pressing requirements, the water has very often been hardly fit for use. Our present supply is brought from near the source of the Lowburn—a distance of many miles—by means of an open race, and is consequently liable to be impregnated with all kinds of impurities, besides being half boiled by the heat of the sun during eight months of the year. From one cause or another, the embankments of the town race are continually breaking away, and expense is constantly incurred in repairing them. It has for some time been felt that this state of things ought not to exist, and that the supply from the present source cannot, under the most favourable circumstances, be efficient or satisfactory. Having thus briefly described the imperfections of our existing water scheme, we will now endeavour to point out a remedy —a simple and inexpensive water-cure—-for the inconvenience and annoyance that have so long been associated with it. On the east bank of the Clutha, exactly opposite the Rev. Mr Drake's house, a pretty little stream—clear and cool at all seasons —comes through a deep ravine in the Dunstan Mountains, and falls into the river within a quarter of a mile from the main street of the town. The stream, we believe, takes its rise at a very high altitude, and at no gr.eat distance from the river ; so that the existence of amply sufficient vertical pressure is a matter of ♦certainty. There would be no difficulty whatever in carrying a supply of water from this source across the river by means of fluming supported on wire ropes; and iron pipes could be laid at a trifling cost from the top of the bank to the main street. We are not prepared to discuss the details necessary for carrying out the plan indicated, nor is this a proper time for doing so ; but that we have pointed out a practicable and economical scheme for supplying the town, at a very moderate cost, with a sufficiency of water suitable for all ordinary purposes, will, we think, be freely admitted by every one who has given the subject the least consideration. We shall be glad to see the matter taken up and discussed by the Municipal Council.