DRAINAGE BOARD.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1261, 3 April 1878, Page 3

DRAINAGE BOARD.

A tspecial w&tfag of the Drainage Board was held ye&terday at |LI a.m. Preaeat—Messrs Harman (acting chairffiwm), Jones, Wright, Duncan, Boss, a»d Hohbs. The Chairman s«d he had the meeting at the expressed wish of several meuab|3rs of tho Board to consider Mr Clark's report on jthe drainage of the district. Mr Clark bad mentioned that while the report was being read the members might wish him to explain some of hi 3 conclusions, as shown in the report, and as he ,(the chairman) considered the suggestion an , excellent one, he had asked that gentleman to be present. Before proceeding to the business of the meeting, he would first read the following Jetter he had received from Mr Clark : " Christchurch, March 29th, 1878. " B. J. S. Harman, Esq., •" Deputy Chairman District Drainage Board. -t gj r _-i u to you my report on *he drainage offjiustchurch, I would remark *hat the estimate. ,5i- per cent., as the animal amount to be raise* Jot interest and sinking fund to extinguish the f ?oan in fifty years, is •founded on the assumption that the loan may Ibe obtained *t 5 per cent, from the .Government, who will probably > able to .obtain it at 4V per cent. If the loan e*n be so •obtained the Government will very iiatu*a!Jy assist the Board and tiw district without any smdue risk, as the rates, &b., toJ)e levied for the purpose would be .security £or the repayment of the principal and interest. "The course of proceedings will be hi i;;"inciple to assist municipalities to hsip, themselves,; and U one which I have reason to think will, in ! the neighboring colonies, b*> adopted for the carrying out of works of and water " I be? to tender my thanks, through the Board, to their officers wk have assisted me m my inquiry. Mr Bell, the Board's engineer, and' his staff have rendered me every assistance, by which I have, in a comparatively skort period, been enabled to go thoroughly into the (ktydls of the entire scheme. I have consulted with *ly Bell on every occasion in the matter of estimate, his local knowledge of prices, &c,, enabling him <U give me very valuable assistance, a r hich has sat'*, 1 ! times been most cheerfully rendered. " 1 &ave, during the time we have been eu;«*ag'ed together, endeavored to give him every information ,ns to the future conduct of the works, •w&ch my experience has suggested, and I have tsvery confidence the execution of the works wtfll be We in hia.chsirge. " In soi&fe particulars I have been unable to follow Mr Carrythers' opinion*, bun I desire to bear testimony to the care and s&jhty with which Mr Carruthers has worked out hisjjcbeme, ■rtlie possession of which jbas cleared the ground ifor me, so to speak, and made my task a comparatively easy one. "The chief inspfietor of nuisance*. JMr W. Pearce, has also given cue very nsefui infi»rßiation on the present condition of the city, witi reference to the artesian water supply, co-spits, <fcc, Ac, and I recognize in him ike qualities of an intelligent and valuable officer. " My address in England is given below, and if I can at any time iu any way assist the Board, I shall be glad to do so, " I remain, your obedient servant, "W. ClijWBE. • "©Victoria Chambers, Victoria street, He (the chairman) had also received Mr Clark's ,*ccofl»t, as,|ojipws;—DrwDSgro report, £590;

report on water supply for Cbristehurch and suburbs, =£'.2s; expenses, .£SO; total, .£675. In making out his account Mr Clark had not evidently bc.m aware that the City Council had to pay him lor the water sch -me. Ah, however, Mr I lark was anxious to leave for Wellington the following day, he would send to the Mayor and ask his authority to include that amount iu tho cheque.

In reply to a question from the chairman, the Board rte i ed to read the clauses of the report serin H it/.

Mr Ciark here entered the room, and hoped menu era would not hesitate to make any observ .tions on each clause of the report. He would be happy to explain any point which might arise that had appeared so simple to him, and i erhaps thus not sufficiently explained in the paper. To enable the discussion to be carried on in a conversational manner, the Board, as a matter of form, resolved itself into committee. The chairman then read the report clause by clause.

In reply to a remark on clause 5, Mr Clark said he was not aware that another census had just been taken. He had given the population on information supplied to him. However the question of population would not affect the question to any material extent. Some remarks were mado on clause 7 (removal of excreta) it being fdiown th.t the estimated cost of 7d per week was rather below the cost that must ultimately be charged The Chairman said he had received that amount from the town clerk.

Mr Clark said he had estimated a cost for tho whole district. However, the price named would not affect the system in any way. It was merely to show how much might bo saved and he had not made further use of it in his report.

In reply to Mr Ross, Mr Chirk said that at least one hnlf of the sickness prevalent in Christchurch during the winter months must be due to the surface water lodging on the low-lying lands. .Till In reply to a question, Mr Clark said he had not calculated his basis of water necessary on the supply to be obtained from the artesian wells There was at present three times more water from that source than was at present required for the use of the population. Supposing these wells were to give out, his figures were based on water to be obtained by artificial means. With reference to clause 27, and in reply to Mr Duncan regarding the Ferry road drain, Mr Clark said that he proposed to put down a 12in. pipe to drain the immediate area, and then let it be covered up. This pipe would clear away all the excreta, &c, from the neighborhood, and the ditch could then be treated as a covered drain. However, as would bo seen, he had provided for this drain being filled in at a later portion of the report. Mr Duncan said he was glad to hear this, as some of his constituents, who had only got as fnr as this portion of the report, had spoken to him about the intention of not filling up the drain. Mr Bell, at the request of Mr Duncan, explained that in clause 69 his suggestions, mado at the request cf Mr Clark, provided for carrying off all the storm water which collects in Waltham and the Gasworks road, through Jackson's oreek, instead of as at present by the Ferry road. The Fe?ry road drain could be filled up.

Mr Clark said he was somewhat conservative, and would only fill in this ditch by degrees. A 12in. pipe, if laid down, would drain all the area of that neighborhood. However, as he had said before, this drain could be tilled up, but he would do the work gradually.

In reply to a remark, Mr Clark said where ho co aid let the rain water away by side channels or any other outlet than by the sewers he would take that course ; but a great deal of discretion would have to be exercised, as it would be difficult to get all persona to construct separate drains. , . , Sir Wright, referrirg to clause 28, said he thought Mr Carruthers must have been misunderstood as to his intention of not admitting the sub-soil water into the sewers. Mr Clark said he had read Mr Carruthers report very carefully, and certainly understood lib only intended admitting this water to a very limited extent. Mr Bell explained that where the nature ot the soil admitted, Mr Carruthers intended to drain the subsoil water into the sewers. Perhaps he had not been as explicit on this point as Ls supposed. In reply to Mr Duncan, Mr Clark said an en-1 tirely new outfall drain -would have to be con-! strnctcd for sewage, independently of tho present one. The existing drain might be repaired to carry off storm water, but he apprehended .tke Board would first see whether it would not admit of repair for the purpose intended. The Chairman here called the attention of the Board to an appendix to the report, consi ting of twelve pages of tables, givjng a list of tho sewers and where they world bp ]aid down, height of invert (upper and lower), length in feet, gradient lin., drainage area, size of sewer, and average depth. From these tables the residents would be able to obtain all particulars without reference to any map. A conversation took place about the stench observed laHy issuing from the side channels, during which Mr Clark remarked, in reply to Mr Boss, that i-o would be a physical impossibility to drain Christchurch effectually by me ma of side channels, as had' been spoken of. A proportion of filth might be removed by evaporation and other means, but the result mus.t be malaria ~fl, vitiated atmosphere, surely followed by sickaew. His belie 1 !" was that the time had fully arrived when drainage by means of tewers j was necessary for Christcbur'clj. In reply to Mr Wright, respecting clause 47, Mr Clark said that a general objection to the pan, or tub system for the removal of excreta, was the necessity for hand labour being employed. If you eould remove this soil by an automatic system, al owing it only to remain for A, short time, it would prevent the generation of 'diseasfi and nuisance. Any storage of excreta caused increased labour, and an increased exvraditure for its removal, besides increasing the danffei" The'city of Manchester was a notable instance of the evil resetts I ' f% ih* j>an system. Where this soil could be remdye* yapieUy and easily by water, the result had been a cm: siderable decrease in sickness and m the expense labor. The Manchester people had been compelie.? to resort to that system through necessity —it was a wstem that was now thoroughly exploded/and hcj ecs4 not understand any population resorting to such f or r e whan the night soil could be removed so effectually and easily by water, In London the Tha'mes'haa go* ;p bad that Parliament' had closed their' windows said . gave the Metropolian Board power to' spend i four millions of money Ho out. Glasgow j was moving in a BimuVr direction, .and it was : the distinct opinion of aty sanitary .cugineotfS: thnt the pan system should not b§ resorted to I where the soil could be removed in ooy other way. If the night soil were placed in wate* afc once it would be retooled from the area of the city within two hours, and m deposed of at its destination before decomposition t mnld take place. The present system of k&ejyipg the night soil in pans for a week wa3 strongly to be objected to, and was very much deprecated by those who had at all considered the subject. He had given fcis opinion very strongly on the necessity of the avainage being carried out by sewers. Mr Clark then gave his experience of large terminal works at Calcutta elsewhere, at which places no smell was observable. The removal of solid and liquid sewage combined by Resent means ' wojjjd be more obnoxious than if the liquid A, 1 one were toay.cyed. With referees to clause 51, the plan by Mr Clark of a simple water-closet system, at a cost of £2 10s, was considered, aud that gentleman explained that where the artesian wells did not i riwj to the surface a pump, simple in construction ', ecajd be used with the most satisfactory results. ' , On clause 54 being read, Mr Clark explained, by means'of a pbn,.how *e intended dealing i with the admission of subsoii ve£er into the sewtu-s. In saturated soil the flow would fiivt be very large, fo?s would gradually diminish until at • sewer level powder would be found. In his i fxpcriencehp had seeuav-;nch pipe flowing at £uU fcoie in the first instance. In repiy to a remark, Mr Clark said «c jyould Btrongly recommend the junction of.house draii.s with the sewers in every instance, and the Board of Health should haye po;/?e*r tg enforce this work. ! On clau'o 67, " Back Drainage/' bemgi-ea.4, Mr Clark said the elause w> »n illustration oi economy and efficiency that woujd h(i obtained He of course knew ti at objections magijfc h& ■ raised by proprietors against having drains runmntf through their land. The Chairman siid it had struck him that the storm water In street might be ran into th > side chnnnels. ) Mr Clark said that as <t system he preferred pipes, but there were exceptional cases wh&ri stnrin water might be led into side channels, iiowryer, Mr Bell was the autlioi rity on this subject. Mr Bell paid he tfould prefer using a pipe for the additional reason that ho desired to lead a portion of ,the fitorm water into the brick drain on the South belt. After the reading of the report had been fiaished, Mr Clark said be had left bis address, ; Bg<* '4 *t »oy Ziffle ft /ortber explapation was

required of any portion of bis report he would be very happy to give it. . In reply to Mr Duncan, the Chairman paid it was his desire that the plans should be lithographed. He had telegraphed to Dunedin and Wellington, asking whether they could be photolithographed there, and if they could not, and the Hoard wished it, he would have the work done here in the ordinary way. Mr Duncan said he thought the chirman should be,empoweed to have the plans lithographed, and copies sent to the City Council, Sydenham Borough Council, and the various Boad Boards, so that the ratepayers might be enabled to obtain easily ev> ry information. Ho won d move, "That the work be carried out as the chairman may direct. ' Mr Wright seconded the motion, and would add that the appeuded tables, showing the position*; of the sewers, should also be printed._ this would enable any person to know the position of a sewer with regard >o his property. The Chairman said he would understand this to be included in the resolution. The motion was put and unanimously agreed to. , , The Chairman said that bef re Mr Clark retired he thought it only proper to thank him oa behalf of the Board for his very exhaustive report, and to express the satisfaction of the Bo rd at being able to avail themselves of his valuable services. Mr (. lark thanked the Board for their kindness. Ho regretted they had had to wait so long for him. but that had been the case at each place he hud visited. He again desired to express his regret at this delay, and thanked them very much for their kind vote. It was a source of satisfaction to him that the Boird were going to have his plans lithographed, as he always liked to have copies to present to the Institute of Engineers, and to show that his work was as complete as possible. The Chairman promised that copies should he sent to Mr Clark if he were still in New Zealand ; if not, they would be forwarded to his London address. Mr Clark baring bade the members of the Board good-bye, then withdrew. On the motion of Mr Wright, seconded by Mr Hobbs, the chairman was authorised to pay Mr Clark's account. A small account for clerical libor was also passed for payment, and the Board adjourned until next Friday fortnight.