CITY’S WATER SUPPLY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 42, 18 January 1938, Page 6

CITY’S WATER SUPPLY

COMPLAINTS BY CONSUMERS. INVESTIGATIONS IN HAND. Described in a number of different ways, an unpleasant emell became apparent in the municipal water supply over the past few days and yesteiday it was particularly marked in quarters of the city. Prompt action was taken by the city engineer s department to bring the supply back to its normal state, and this morning the city engineer (Mr J. R- Dug lies i made a statement to the standard on the subject. “An analysis of the water :s now being made,” lie said, “in an endeavour to try to trace the cause of the smell. It is no doubt due to the hot ! weather, and probably comes from the sun warming up the 21inch steel pipe crossing the Fitzherbert bridge. It has been noticed that the smell is more pronounced rffc the bottom ot Fitzherbert Avenue than at other points in the city. The water is naturally enclosed in the ’ main and the effect would be just the same as warming up water in a tightly corked bottle where the gases given off could not escape. . , , , . “We cannot localise the trouble to any particular district in the city, and yesterday morning we received complaints, while there have been others this morning. Every endeavour is being made to empty the mams of the water carrying the smell, and men have been engaged in various parts of the city yesterday and to-day scouring the mains out by releasing the water. That has been done in the areas from which the complaints have come, and it has brought an improvement there. “At the Tiritea dam the water passes through very fine gauze screens before entering, the mains, and on its way to town, at the filter house, passes through heavy beds of quarts, eight feet deep. The screens are cleaned every week throughout the year and an inspection of them has shown that there is nothing 1 there to cause the smell. The rvater is beautiful at the filter house and there is no sign of a smell or taste in it there. The smell appears to have been caused on the way to the city from that point. ~ “There is still a fair run m the stream at Tiritea, there being an overflow an inch deep at the by-way, which is 25 feet wide, so there is fresh water coming right through the reservoir all the time. The level of the water in the reservoir has not dropped below its steady height, so the sun has not been able to affect vegetation which would be covered again when the water rose. . “I would not say the water is bad by any clear. . . -but I think it is advisable to boil it in the meantime until the smell disappears, and I expect that to go as soon as the hot water eases off,” the engineer added. “Similar trouble was experienced several years ago in a hot summer, but it disappeared with the departure of the not It will be remembered that on Sunday Palmerston North experienced the hottest day of the summer so far. the temperature of 91 degrees in the shade being the highest for a number of vears. The next morning the -smell in'the water became more apparent and was noticeable in a number or localities about the city, while some residents complained also of an unpleasant taste in the water. Much cooler temperatures were experienced in the city to-day and the forecast i« for cooler weather.