Pukekohe's Pressure Reduction Valve.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 145, 14 February 1916, Page 2

Pukekohe's Pressure Reduction Valve.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —lt H hard to understand ycur attitude on the question of employing a consulting engineer to report on our waterworks. You go to great length to prove what nobody doubts, viz,, that 1 have consistently advocated the employment of a good consulting engineer, if you ara alio of that opinion why did 1 at no time receive any assistance from you in the matter? Your comments retarded rather thon helped me in that policy. Wc have already Mr Gannon's report; if you have no coniideace in it why r'o you quote it as an authority with reference to tha pressure-reducing valve? On the ether hand, it yuu have fai'h in Mr uannon's report, why cali fir another report before we dJ this work? Is not the new reservoir rtcummendt'd by Mr Gannon?

You explain at length the trouble with our valve—the scaring ot the valvj saat. You explain that this valve seat can easily be trade true and kept true. Since this lias not been done tlere would seem to bo shocking neglect on the part of the Engineer and incapacity on ; the part of t s .e Cjunc'l Your demand fmshatic assertio s leave nothing mora tj be said on the matter—except one thing, which 1 may be permitted to mentioi in extenuation of the the engineer's guilt, and n mitigation rf tbe severe condemnation which may fall upon tha Council; and that one thing is this—that there is ro valva scat in tha valve. You are under a complete • misapprehension as to t*ie mechanical attraction ot the valve. It is rather a strain on one's patience to have to encounter so many erroneous ideas regarding our water vcrki. I tear it is entirely hopelesi to expect ever to see tha end of them. Surely we might expect "The Times" to make certain of such simple mat'ers, before making emphatic assertions very much in keeping with the engineering views held by certain ignorant street-corner gossips in Pukekohe. It is a pity that their ignorance, cinfiJenca and prejudica should piss fir wisdom aming thusa who are not in a position to form any judgment tor themselves The valve has been repaired. One would h ardly have thought it necessary to say so. But even when in g>od repair, if such valves are not to j imb almost c ntinuouely they must not be made t)0 tight, and fia very slight necessary departure from a perfect lit is sufficient, under our enormous pres sure, to cause them to leak rather barfly, Bat the better the tit, the more rapid the deterioration. The repairing of the valve wouli therefore have to go on continuously, and would n;ver be sitisfactory even when treshly done, not to m ntion the never-endin? expense and the never-ending interruption to the water supply. If such valve 3 are entirely efficient, economical and satisfactory under proper management, 1 wonder why they have been vanishing from Auckland water systems so rapidly? And why have Auckland turrcocks not a good word to say for th m? With reference to your query as to why the waste has not been measured bv meter, if you read my previous letter vnu will see that this Ijas been done In fairness to Mr Wyatt I ought to mention that you will not fi id in qny reports of his the alarming statements which were made about twelve months ago, and which you mentioned in your leader ot the 7tb inst. You do not mention that Mr Wyatt was responsible lor such statement?, but in view of the tact that reference to them follows the mention of Mr Wyatt's came it mizht te thought that Mr Wvatt was responsible were the contrary not made clear. —1 am, etc, H. G. K. MASON