The Globe WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 1876.

Globe, Volume VI, Issue 661, 2 August 1876, Page 2

The Globe WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 1876.

We are pleased to find that at last attention has been directed to the uncalled for and totally unneeded waste from the artesian wells of the city. Warnings given of late by the almost total stoppage of the flow in the higher parts of the City, and a sensible diminution in those situated at a lower level, have been disregarded. The water has been allowed to run to waste without benefitting any one, indeed, rather the reverse, as in a great number of cases it has been a positive nuisance. The Engineer to the Drainage Board has made a calculation and finds that in the twenty-four hours 240 gallons of water per head of the population are discharged from the city. Of this, he states, the greater part is artesian water. Now let us enquire to what beneficial use is this large quantity of water put? In some instances, it is true, it is useful for flushing the side channels, and this is the solitary and sole purpose for which it is so. But no sensible person will argue for one moment that the enormous amount of water referred to by the Engineer is necessary to flush the very few side channels it is available for. It must be remembered that there is no general system of draining the waste artesian water into the side channels. If there were, perhaps less objection could be made to a reasonable quantity of water being allowed to flow away. On the contrary, this would be a public benefit. But as matters now stand, we have, in the majority of instances, the water running on the section on which the well is situated, saturating it, and not only so but it often flows on the adjoining land, rendering it damp and wet. In addition to a nuisance thus caused, we contend that a positive injury to the public is committed by the practice now in force. The great waste causes a diminished supply, and every well that is sunk still more reduces the flow of those already in existence. To put the matter more plainly, the waste from the wells in the lower portion of the town so exhausts the supply that in the summer months the wells in the higher parts are quite dry. Much was made about the tyranny of enforcing regulations respecting the use of wells which are private property. Wo fail to see the force of this argument for this reason: as his Honor Mr Justice Johnston put it the other day in the case of Bush v. the notion that a man can do as he likes with his own if it is to the injury or inconvenience of his neighbor or the public, is exploded long ago. The proprietors of these wells—private property though they be —have no right to so use them as either to render them a nuisance by flooding their neighbors, or to depreciate the public enjoyment of the water supply by undue waste. Therefore there can be no tyranny in a competent authority stepping in and protecting the general public by preventive measures. That the City Council should be consulted, we cannot for one moment see. The matter is purely one belonging to the Drainage Board, and the Council have no right whatever to say anything about it. We cordially support the Board in their endeavor to have a clause inserted in the new Act giving them power to , put an end to the wilful and wanton waste of our water supply.