WATER SUPPLY BREAKDOWN

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2674, 21 January 1916, Page 8

WATER SUPPLY BREAKDOWN

PLIGHT OP THE SUBURBS. The interruption of the city water supply continued throughout yesterday. .In some parts of the city the service was normal, and no inconvenience was experienced, but iu other portions of the system the diminished pressure gave but a poor supply, and in places no water at all was obtainable. The officials of the water supply branch of the engineer's department have been assiduously endeavouring to trace the cause of the trouble, which still remains somewhat a matter of tion. The depletion, of the Bell Road service reservoir, which maintains the pressure throughout the city reticulation, was, of course, the foundation of the first failure of the supply, but there is an interruption in the flow through the main from the Wainui dam which goes directly to the Bell Road reservoir. The supply in tlie latter reservoir. was, however, replenished to some extent last night. fhe authorities consider that the main is not blocked, but they state that the trouble may be the result of a leakage underground. A close examination -of the system is at present being earned out, with a view of discovering tlie cause of the break-down. The shortage or absence of water is not only causing inconvenience in many households, but a dislocation of work in some industrial concerns has also resulted.

While Mr. Morton's staff is trying to diswver the cause of the trouble, the suburbs on Mount Victoria and beyond

the tunnel have, it is stated, been absolutely waterless for upwards of 48 hours. In the Kilbirnic district, where

there are some 15,000 people, all hut a few houses are reported to be without a trickle of water. This .means/ that proper sanitation is suspended—a most grave matter in a locality parts of which are densely populated. "There is not a drop of water for washing," said a resident of Kilbirnie last evening. "Adults cannot' even wash hands and faces, and infants cannot be bathed. There is no i water for cooking, no water to drink, no water for even a cup of tea. Also, in those houses where there is a high-pressure hot-water system, the cisterns being empty, it is impossible, for householders to light their kitchen fires." On Lyall Bay beach, according to a local resident, the taps in the bathing sheds of the Surf Clubs yield a flow of water sufficient to fill a bucket in about five minutes, and all day long people are waiting in queues to get some of the precious fluid. Across tho road the taps _ are perfectly dry. Residents in _ Kilbirnie and the surrounding district are asking that for. at least a part of the day the water shall be out off in the City and diverted to the drought areas, and unless- the roof of the trouble is discovered soon something of the sort may have to be done. AT LOWER HUTT. Defects in the pumping machinery at Lower Hutt have caused a difficulty in maintaining the water supply, and householders are requested to exercise economy, and to refrain from hosing gardens and lawns.