WATER CAUTION

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20115, 8 December 1939, Page 6

WATER CAUTION

MAIN LINE REPAIRS WEEK-END CONSUMPTION RESERVE FROM TAUMATA REQUEST BY ENGINEER A request that the public should use as little borough water as possible during the coming week-end, when, owing to main-line repairs, the supply will depend upon the emergency source at Taumata Hill, which will not support a normal draw-off for the whole day at the present average rate of consumption. The repair job on the main supply line from Waingake will involve replacing about 100 ft of the spiral steel pipe, and the greater part of the day will be taken up with the work. Following the completion of the work, there will be tests to make before the main line is restored as the source of supply for the town area. “The general situation of the borough water supply is unchanged,” stated the borough engineer, Mr. E. R. Thomas, to-day. “There is ample water at the headworks of the system, but when unrestricted use of hoses in the town area becomes general, the pipeline is unequal to the situation. Pressure falls an the mains, and in consequence the residents on the higher levels are unable to secure water for essential purposes.”

There was no likelihood of a shortage o fsteel spiral pipe for repair work on the main line, Mr. Thomas said, in answer to a further question. During the past year, stocks in the borough yards had been reinforced, and unless something in the nature of a serious flood or earthquake should occur, no shortage of main-line materials was' likely to develop.

The spiral pipes used for this purpose are made in New Zealand, and if local stocks become exhausted, it should not be difficult to restore them. Cast-iron pipes for extensions of the reticulation system, on the other hand, are in short supply in the Dominion, these being overseas productions. Connections for the State housing block and for the Intermediate School are held up at present owing to lack of cast-iron piping, the engineer added.