The Sun 42 Wyndham Street, Auckland, N.Z. AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 1927. AUCKLAND’S WATER SUPPLY

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 4, 26 March 1927, Page 8

The Sun 42 Wyndham Street, Auckland, N.Z. AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 1927. AUCKLAND’S WATER SUPPLY

I"|NE of the essentials of a city is an adequate water v sujuply, and the evidence to be given before the commission of inquiry which is to begin its sittings in xiuckland will be followed with much interest. This commission will investigate the present sources of supply, the provisions that are being made by extending those sources in the western catchment area, and the proposals that have been made for the supply of water from Lake Taupo, or from the Waikato River, lower down. The City Council does not favour the Taupo scheme, being of the opinion that sufficient water can be obtained from the Waitakere Hills to suffice the city for many years, but it is a proposal that has the backing of several local bodies adjacent to the city, and it is at their urging that the commission of inquiry has been constituted. There have been occasions, within recent memory, of a shortage of water amounting almost to a famine, when for weeks on end the supply was limited, and exasperated householders, forbidden to use the hose, saw the cherished plants they had grown with the expenditure of much time and labour wither and die beneath a blazing- Auckland sun. Then, too, there have been times when a broken main has entirely cut off the supply to some parts of the city and the people have had to chase the water-cart with jugs arid buckets. But the City Council has not been idle in combating these regrettable conditions. It is erecting, at great cost, a huge filtration plant to strain the mud out of the water, and it is now serving the city with water sufficient for is present needs and building additional dams, which it declares will provide a reasonable supply of water for a number of years, making all due allowances for the growth of the city. Several local bodies, however, are not satisfied with this programme, and insist that it is necessary to tap the crystal waters of Lake Taupo or of the Waikato River. They contend that the Waitakeres will not provide adequately for the future; the City Council says that they will; and the opponents of the Taupo scheme point to the possibility of earthquakes breaking the mains and effectively cutting off supplies from that quarter. Evidence will be heard from both sides. The existing sources of supply are the Waitakere dam, with a capacity of 220 million galjons and a dry weather yield of three million gallons (which is being raised to a capacity of 450 million gallons with a daily yield of 4\ million gallons), and the Nihotupu dam, which has a capacity of 530, million gallons, with a daily yield of 5$ million gallons. This supply serves, approximately 150,000 people of the city, Mount Eden, Mount Albert, Newmarket, Avondale, Mount Roskill, Tamaki, New Lynn and Henderson, but projected developments propose to serve the whole of the Eden County, portions of the Waitemata County, the northern portion of Manakau County, including Mangere, Papatoetoe, Manurewa and East Tamaki, and the four North Shore boroughs of Devonport, Takapuna, Northcote and Birkenhead. a total area of 130 square miles. With the construction of the dams at Lower Nihotupu, Upper Huia and Lower Huia, it is estimated that the daily water yield available will be 28-J million gallons—which would allow 50 gallons a day for a population of 560,000 people. This is the estimate of the city engineer, Mr. W. E. Bush. His figures regarding future supply have been challenged by some of the supporters of the Taupo scheme, but they will, doubtless, be thoroughly analysed by the commission which will begin its sittings on Monday.