BOROUGH WATER

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20112, 5 December 1939, Page 14

BOROUGH WATER

WAINGAKE SUPPLY DEVELOPMENT ERROR MR. REYNOLD'S CLAIM I WAIPAOA DISCUSSED Support for Mr. N. H. Bull's con- | lentions regarding the plenitude of ! water available from the Waingake 1 caichment area, providing suitable I impounding measures are taken, is ; forthcoming from Mr, Leslie 11. Rey- | nolds, whose support for Waingake I and condemnation of the Waipaoa i River as a source of supply is eotilaiiij ed in a communication to the editor oi the Herald. | "It Is not my wish to be drawn into j the question of Gisborne’s watei 1 supply, but 1 have been asked by many to touch upon it," writes Mr. j Reynolds. "Having had, from its inception, so much to do with Te Alai i and its coniines, as also with very | many others, the following on the Te Arai and Waipaoa Rivers may be of some use or interest to those who care. "I am not going into figures ol costs for the moment, as they., apparently have been dealt with in 'Mr. N. H. Bull’s first and second epistles on water supply, appearing in your issues of November 22 and HO, and the j Mayor’s diatribe or otherwise on same, and presented to the Gisborne j Borough Council on November 29. I “In any case, the left-hand branch I of the Te Arai, looking upstream as in i all cases, was later adopted by others ' and not by myself. It was- the righthand branch or branches which im--1 mediately appealed to me. The catcli- ! nient area is,practically twice the area of that adopted, and one branch only ; gave twice the summer flow of the | left-hand or adopted supply.

“Doleful Admission of To-day” "This was at the extreme end ol 1903, or 36 years ago, and left entirely alone the main stream. Had that been adopted, there would have been no call for the doleful admission of to-day and not for years it at all, and people, ratepayers or otherwise, would have known for years lo come that they were drinking pure water from the headworks adjacent to Waingake. “It was not until 1927 or the latter end of 1926 that I saw Iho adopted branch, and thought then: What a

pity! There must have been some terrible miscalculation as to summer How. It has come to the handling, cooking and drinking ol pure water from Waingake, as against filth from the Waipaoa sludge channel, mechanically filtered and purified (or in my opinion doctored) to suit some. I trust few, of the public or its guests. Indeed, it seems akin to drinking purified sewage, including human, at least it appears so to me. River Water for Fires Only "It is very far from likely that I would so readily have passed the Waipaoa River had I not at that time (1903) thought il then disgusting. What about now? And of that there can be no two hypotheses. Should there be any question of Hie previous use, or rather suggestion by me, of the River Waipaoa at Matawhoro, lei is be understood that there was next to nothing at Mangapoike, and that the scVvice at Waingake was very and truly dangerously low, and it was immediate rain which saved that. The Waipaoa River water was for fire purposes only. In any case the pumps should be for fire, and if necessary at all, should not be far distant. Probably the lagoon would suit if cleaned. “The pumping from near the lagoon, referred to in my first report, was to be subsidiary only, and the Te Arai right branch tackled for permanent j supply to Gisborne (see my report, January, 1901, or questions thereto.). A Truce to Controversy “There is plenty of pure water for many years near Waingake if properly tackled. That fact the authorities should know ere this, and if not knowing should be surely taught. In his -- report to the Gisborne Borough Council, made in January, 1904, Jltr. Reynolds stated in regard to the Waimata and Waipaoa rivers, that "a supply from either would entail pumping, but the serious objection lies in the ultimate pollution of these rivers, which will undoubtedly follow upon settlement. Indeed, even now the Waimata water must at times -be unfit for domestic use. In any case, were either source adopted, it would ere long be found necessary to filter the water, and the accepting of a source where filtration will be required should always, if possible, he avoided; therefore, neither of these rivers can be considered suitable sources for a permanent supply.”