CITY ENGINEER'S REPORT

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 201, 20 May 1920, Page 5

CITY ENGINEER'S REPORT

SUBJECTS OF MUNICIPAL

MOMENT

FURTHER EXTRACTS

METERING OF WATER SUPPLY

In the course of his Teport on his observations and investigations abroad, tha City Engineer (Mr. W. H. Morton) writes on many subjects, all of more or less importance to "Wellington. "It 'was found," he reports,-, ' that ,many cities in U.S.A. aro requiring the ' wholo of the water used for household purposes'as well as trade purposes to be .metered. This has been attended with very beneficial results, the 'quantity of water consumed being reduced considerably. Ono find 9 very generally in America that_the greatest amount ot water is used during 'the winter months. Inasmuch,as tho water can then best be spared it means very l:ttie. the reason-for the extra consumption is that in theso months the water is liable-to freeze in the pipes and to prevent this and tho bursting of tho pipes hcuseholdora are in tho habit of allowing their taps, to .run. Under such circumstan'jes up to 300 gaMons per head per day has been drawn from the public supplies, but in California the consumption under the scheme? now under construction or partially completed is reckoned at ICO gallons Der head ner day. This closely corresponds to tho amount of t.ater used in Sydney and Melbourne during the summer months.- It may, therefore be taken that the consumption in Wellington of 74 galtons nor head per day is excessive under modern conditions, and should' be tho quantity on which any new schemes should bo,based. Town-planning, "The only town-planning of any consequence that it was found possible to visit in America was in connection with the new residential areas in San Francisco, Toronto, which are considered to have been very successful, and ci'o certainly although I was informed that the owners of-tho property in Toronto who wci'o responsible for planning tho streets before tho land was offered for sate for residential- purposes, suffered financial loss. Generally the layouts, aro very effective, but it appeared that the curvature of Streets had been overdone. As n result of investigations here arid elsewhere it. was quite apparent that the desire in some quarters for streets to be curved instead of being laid out in Straight lines was contrary to tho best interests when regarded fiom the traffic point oi view. A municipality of curved streets may become quite as monotonous as the older and more established cistom of rectangular subdivisions with straight streets. When the configuration of the ground requires, curved streets must of necessity bo provided in many instances in order that unnecessary earthwork may be avoided, and, so far as Wellington is concerned this must be the piincipal object determining tho alignment of tho thoroughfares in our residential districts. Drainage and Sanitation. "In most'of the principal cities visited i't was found that sewago was discharged in a crude state into the sea or into the Great Lakes. Owing to the facilities provided under these circumstances the . number of plants for purification of sewage before disposal did not appear to be anything like so great as in England where they weTe constantly to-be met with, more particularly in the inland cities and towns. There was at Milwaukee, however, a very complete investigation being carried out in connection with tins activated sludge beatment of sewage before disposal. This treatment consists in returning a portion of the sludge deposited in the septic tanks to meet, the incoming sewage, providing for its diffusion by compressed air. The process is expensive, but is being adopted in some instances in England. Very favourable results have, I relieve, been obtained in Milwaukee in the experimental work which has been undertaken up to the present. Street Cleansing. "Owing to the scarcity of horee-drawn vehicles, streets in American cities are generally clean, excepting only tho approaches to the wharves and railway stations. Vehicles for lltshing the surfaces of the streets wore commonly used, and with the bituminous asphalt surfaces a very much greater degrea •■ i cleanliness is easily obtainable. I inspected some motor-driven vehicles which had previously come under notice here through corre-' spondenoe, and which are designed to sprinkle, sweep and lift the detritus from the street surface. 1 was not favourably impressed w r ith them. They are veryexpensive, and the amount of gear about them would, I feel sure, lead to an excessive charge for maintenance. "I. was also disappointed with the class of vehicle used for the collection of household refuse.' I expected to see something very much better than the vehicles used in tnis city. They were very cumbrous, untidy, and no better suited for the class of work than these we use here. This may be taken as a general'ru.l6 throughout 'the' States of America."