THE WATERWORKS

South Canterbury Times, Issue 3002, 9 November 1882, Page 2

THE WATERWORKS

[To THE EdITOE.] Pin, —Being one of the oldest ratepayers in Timaru, I have taken a deep interest in the improvements that have been effected of late by the Borough Council, more especially the waterworks, and I have no hesitation in saying that they are the cheapest and most perfect of the kind in New Zealand. Public attention has again been directed to those works by your report of the proceedings of the Council. Since the Borough has been divided into Wards, the new members have brought themselves into notoriety by running a tilt against these works, doing their utmost to show that they are faulty and constructed on wrong principles, that the water is unfit for use, the pressure not sufficient,that in fact the whole work has been mismanaged and badly engineered. At last meeting of the Council when the engineer who constructed the works was present, Councillor Hill admitted the statement he had made about the pressure was a mistake, and having done this, it is surely not unfair to say the whole thing was got up for a purpose. The caretaker at the reservoir and the Waterworks Inspector after examining the valves declared the pipes were quite clean and free from sand or mud, and that not one of the statements made about the filthy state of the pipes was correct. One cannot clearly grasp the facts of the case from the reports and letters published in the press, and to put the matter fairly before the ratepayers 1 give the following facts and allow them to be the judges which one would, if carried ont, benefit the ratepayers most:—

1. The waterworks was taken up, the loan voted by the ratepayers, and the works constructed purely for a domestic supply. 2. The capacity of the works is only 1,500,000 gallons per diem, but it can be increased to 3,000,000 by widening the race and doubling the pipes round Mount Horrible and joining the pipe head with the Reservoir at a cost of say £IO,OOO which means another loan and increased taxes.

3. The notice of motion by Councillor Allen is to come up for discussion; If carried, it would give the water, at an average pressure to be then got, to the owner of the engine at one half-penny per 1000 gallons which represents one hour’s work for .one horse. 4. I interviewed Mr Dobson when he was here the other day, and put the question to him. If the Council granted any one a 20-horse power, what effect would that have on the present supply ? His answer was, a 20-horse motor engine would take an Sin pipe to feed it, and as the main from Cross street to Main Boad is only an Ilia pipe, the Council could not afford to grant such a large pipe to any one consumer without taking it from those already working. 5. He pointed out that the Council had already granted a 9-horse power supply, and there are applications for six more at 4d per 1000 gallons ; and that more small engines may be expected to pay the same price, which, yield a good income to the Council, and those having the water at this price seem quite satisfied with it. 6. I then asked him to explain the size of pipe which would supply the extension as laid before the Council at its last meeting, and compare it with an engine showing what the same quantity of water would keep going from eight in the morning to six in the evening. His reply was clear and decided, that a one horse engine would take more water to keep it going than the one thousand inhabitants would consume, this being the number of inhabitants calculated to bo supplied by the extension. Now the engine running twelve hours at four pence per horse power per hour, would give an income of £6O per annum. The extension would, as shown by the Town Clerk, give now £460 per annum with a sure increase in two or three years to double this, or say £9OO. 7. The notice of motion, if carried, would at once stop all extension, and not only so, but it would reduce the present income from water engines, so that for financial purposes it might be struck out of the estimate altogether.

8, What local industries which one hears of so much are languishing in Timaru ? I am informed on good authority that engines constructed at present consume so small a quantity of coals that water, even at £lO per horsepower per annum for 12 hours a day, could not compete with steam.

9. Those members who advocate so strongly the reducing water for engines seem to forget that the waterworks are the property of the ratepayers, that the Council for the time being are only trustees, and that before water is given to drive engines at one halfpenny per 1000 gallons, while tnere is a demand for extension for domestic purposes outside the Borough, which pays 2s 6d per 1000 gallons. The ratepayers should be called together and their consent asked and given before such a step is taken. The granting water, at the figure quoted, to a mill, is simply getting a bonus from the public. If a bonus is to be granted, then let it be done by the proprietors of the works, and if they do so I, with others, will be quite satisfied. (10) The extension plan, as far as the funds and plant on hand can go, would make the works a financial success to such an extent that in two years or so the Council could, after paying interest

and maintenance, reduce the water rate to one half what it is now. Pass the motion, and extension is at an end, and the rates must remain as they are for many a long year. A few owners of engines will bo benefitted at the cost of the whole of the ratepayers of the Borough. I am, &c„ A Ratepayer.