WATER AND DRAINAGE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3729, 8 December 1906, Page 2

WATER AND DRAINAGE.

Mr. G. Nye supplies us with some interesting information in respect to the question of water and drainage for Foxton. This gentleman’s long connection with the Public Works Department and his thorough knowledge of the district is worth putting on record. The Borough Council will have to face

this question at an early date. At present our sanitary arrangements are a menace to the public health ; our domestic water supply is obtained principally from the roofs of houses and stored in tanks, and our fire prevention scheme consists of a little tinkling fire-bell. This is progressive Foxton’s position to-dav. The people no doubt will be aroused when half the town is reduced to smouldering ruin, or c’ods of earth cover the remains of victims of the dreaded typhoid. Let us eat, drink, and be merry; let selfishness reign supreme—perish true citizenship—is the cry of prominent townspeople to-day. Not one citizen seems able to rise to the occasion. Plenty of energy is apparent in other directions but it is regrettable to have to confess that we are lacking in true citizenship.

Speaking of the formation of the country Mr Nye says the rivers run south-west—this is the natural drainage. The formation is made up of drift, and this contains the water-bearing strata, in alternate layers, separated by layers of clay. It is in the shingle or sand that the water is found. Speaking of Foxton’s position, Mr Nye says that from the race-course flat to the court-house corner there is a fall of 17ft. 6in., and a further fall from here to the Awahou bridge of 4ft. 6in.

■ ■ * • * * Ip an artisian pipe was driven at the back of the hill near the racecourse the water would have to be purapedand lifted into a reservoir. The ridge inthatlocality is anatural water tower, and Mr Nye suggests that the Council put down a trial pipe theie. The water from this source could be used for a threefold purpose, viz.,—domestic, sewage, and fire extinction. The cost would be comparatively small. An alternate scheme of lifting the water from the river would only give a supply for fire prevention and sewage. The river water is muddy in winter and brackish in summer, and also contains the refuse from the flaxmills. To convey the water from Shannon would be out of the question as this scheme would run into at least ,£30,000. We hope the Council will seriously consider a scheme for water and drainage at an early date,