HASTINGS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 49, 21 November 1907, Page 11

HASTINGS.

T , " November 20. ' The report of Mr. J. Rogers, C.E., on the proposed high pressure supply for Hastings, will bo before the Council to-morrow even- • ' M r. Rogers, in dealing with tho artesian supply as a source, calls attention to the fact that tins supply was likely to be i aiiected/ by long periods of drought when the « water would not rise to the surface, and with a large population they might be faced with a water famine. In selecting sites for a gravitation supply he found great diffi- . culty in finding unpolluted sources at sufficient olevation. These sources were mostly on sheep runs where the water was contaminated by cattle and dogs, drinking from the. stream. :The Mareatotara River appeared to him as being the best for this purpose. This rivor rises on thfe Waimarama Estate, about fifteen miles from the centre' of Hastings, and near tho southern boundary of ' tho Hawke's Bay County. It would be absolutely safe' to calculate on a permanent supply of 15,000 cubic feot per minut{f, r or-the-'minimuni flow of 60 gallons per head per diem, which would serve a populition- r o£ ! people. Commercially it possessed, jjtqafc potentialities tor tho installation, of a, combined -power and water supply plant; equal to the. necessities of Hastings and 'Napier combined. Ho recommends a and gravi- »■ tation scheme. His'idea is to pump tho water from the rivir .-:Up to a lake about seven and three-quSiiters miles from Hastmgs, and situataoear tho crest of tho range dividing tMSuki Tuki and tho Maretotara Rivers,~Mi : -carrying it' hence to Hastings at hj®,/pressure by means of gravitation.. M jpust bo understood that the motive..powfrf for pumping is obtained from the riy&Mself through , a hydraulic pump, and .the .lake (which does not appear on tho map.; anife which for the purposes of the report lias been called Lake Mokopeka) will form ajreservoir, capable of extension; to hold an immense' volume of water, It is proposed fpjytho present that tho reticulation shall (iSver only tho business centre of tho town; butytho schemo is designed with a view to for tho purpose of serving thefflwbolo of th 6 town—a population of 15,000. fj ; .