Correspondence.

Feilding Star, Volume XV, Issue 226, 30 January 1894, Page 2

Correspondence.

ARTESIAN WATER. TO THE KIMTOR OF THE STAH. Sir, — I attended the meeting re the above last night, and must say that the Mayor is to be commended on the way he placed the matter before his audience, although I think the depth should be greater than the proposed scheme until water is reached, and the money should be raised by the Council and the entire district. Artesian wells would be a great boon to Feilding : not only now, but even when we get the proper water supply. Most of your readers are aware of the importance of these wells in the old world. Artesian wells, so called from the French province of Artois, where they appear to have been first used on an extensive scale, are formed by boring rods, which perforate the strata till they reach a supply of water having its sources higher than that of the mouth of the boring. From the natural law by which all fluids seek to maintain the same level, the water thus reached rises to the surface and becomes a spring, which is usually copious in proportion to the depth of the perforation. I think, sir, that a good round sum should be spent before the great work should be abandoned. For example : One of the most celebrated artesian wells is that of Grenelle, near Paris. Operations were commenced in 1854 with a boring chisel of the dimensions of lft in width, reduced at the depth of 500 ft to 9in, of 1100 ft to 7£in, and at 1300 ft to 6in. At the latter depth, however, the tubing broke, and great disappointment was felt ; but they started again, and at 1800 ft the boring rods suddenly descended several yards without opposition ; then patience and industry were rewarded, and now the water is discharged into a circular reservoir at the rate of about 500,000 gallons in twenty-four hours. Let us, like the French, make a good trial for pure water, which has made Paris so healthy as compared with other European cities. I am, etc., Brevis.