THE WATER QUESTION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3508, 11 April 1905, Page 2

THE WATER QUESTION.

TO TUB EDITOR OF THE MANAWATP HERALD. Sir, —-I must apologise for intruding upon your valuable space again, but iny excuse must be the necessity of discussing the pros and cons of any important scheme in hand, during it* initial stage, and before any expense i» incurred. In a previous letter, I characterised the scheme of water supply favoured by the Mayor as “ costly and problenietical,” and very costly we know’ it is at about £6OOO if it will prove of nO more benefit to the town than another scheme at £IOOO. That it is very problemetical is easily seen, when the' objects for which it is intended, are fully explained and it ia understood how entirely it fails IQ attaining what it is intendedto do. The three things mentioned in connection with the scheme were a supply of water for the township, a good force of water for fire purposes, with* out the necessity of a fire engine being used, and water for drainage purpose*, which last of course mu«t pre-suppo*e a drainage scheme being intended, of which I deal, as the water without the drain would be of no use. Now it i* very probable that water will be found in the place it is proposed to put the artesian well down, but if I prove that, that is all the costly scheme will do. The well already put down in the township (without the necessity of *0 large an expenditure) either by pump* ing witli an oil engine, or if that fails, by driving a two inch pipe inside the three inch pipe already there, down some 30 feet lower would do, and this would not be, I should say, a very difficult task. The proposal to erect a large 20,000 gallon concrete tank, on lbs top of a 70 foot sandhill, to give A fore of water lor a fire j hose, is not only very costly and problemetical, but quite Useless nr what it is intended, as all it will do is to supply the standpipes at the different houses, but surely a lower elevation and consequently A less costly one would do the same, a* experts say that to give a sufficient force for fire purposes the tank must be at an elevation of from 140 to 170 feef, to give a force that will send a stream of water on a fire so as not tp simply pour the water gently on it, but also dash the flame# out with its force. The last question ot sewerage is more problemetical still, as if it is taken In hand it would cost thousand* of pounds, but when it was all completed, and we quite realized its. after effects, how much would wfl not give to have it undone. The and cheapest form of drainage would he direct to the river, and it may b* said that Palmerston does the same, but there the Manawatu is always a swift- , running stream of water, quickly assimilating all liquids to itself, long before it reaches any part of the river that is at all affected by the flux and re-flux of the tides and consequently makes it quite harmless; but OUf case is quite different, as on account of th# tides and the prevailing winds v*ry little solid matter would reach the sea, and therefore it would be deposited on the mud-banks up and down dn Iron* of the township, making the river unfit for any use whatever. Bathing even would be out of the question ; in fact the town in a season of drought would scarcely be habitable. The mills pollute the river quite sufficiently now, but that is with comparatively clean vegetable matter. I will quote from Mr Harold Beauchamp’s letter to the “ New Zealand Times," dated March 26th, to show what direct sewerage has done for Wellington harbour; but it would be ten times worse for us, as there the water is salt, and quickly destroys the germs of disease, but here it is nearly always fresh, the sea*watec only making it a little brackish at very high tides. He says: “ I wonder how much longer the citizens are going tp tamely submit to, and tolerat*, the awful nuisance, and menace to public health that exists consequent nponth# discharge of foul matter on the foreshore, near the old Thorndon baths, through the Davis street sewer. When the tide i» out the mephitic _ smell arising from this abomination is calculated to produce a feeling of nausea in anyone unless he possesses the stomach of a Kaffir.” He also speak* : of the “malodorous stench" and “loathsome stench "to be met with, “in the vicinity of the sewer in question.” The other treatment of sewerage in a septic tank, or a system like that at Christchurch, with its costly pumping station, is too costly for a small community like ours a* it would also require four miles of piping to take it to the beach, to deliver it direct into the sea, but as it would naturally follow the shortest and most direct route, it would discharge itielf just opposite where a tramway terminus may in future be, and near a large pier, with bathing machines, etc., all around as at New Brighton. This is a nice prospect to look forward to, in more senses than one, so I think we*should give any drainage scheme very careful consideration. In fact I think it would be better to be prudent and let the next generation solve the question, and if flax keeps up they may be better able to pay for it than we are. —I am, etc., F. De Bidder.