THE WATER SUPPLY PROPOSALS.

Te Puke Times, Volume II, Issue II, 4 November 1913, Page 3

THE WATER SUPPLY PROPOSALS.

MR SPENCER'S REPORT.

The report'prepared by 1 Mr Spencer, consulting engineer, at the request of the Te Puke Town Board, ..upon the, feasibility and cost of obtaining a water supply for the Town district, was presented at the meeting of the Board last night, as follows :- The only two possible sources at a reasonable cost of Gravitation Water-Supply, for your town are Mr McDowell's creek and the Kirikiri Creek, both of which I gauged, the former below the junction of two creeks which bificurate at a level below the level of the town,' and the Kirikiri about where the intake would be situated.

I found that the latter gave slightly more water, and there is no doubt that in following Mr McDowell's creek to the height necessary to give the desired head;above the,town, that a good proportion of the supply would be lost, owing to auxiliary springs which feed it below where the intake would be situated. Then again a second pipe line to pick up the branch creek would have to be laid, so that Dractically the same length of main would be necessary as from the Kirikiri.

Then again there is a doubt in my mind as to there being a sufficient head from these creeks, compared with the Kirikiri stream, so that for these reasons I have no hesitation in recommending your Board to adopt this latter source as your proposed supply, . At : the time when'l gauged this stream it was, universally acknowledged by those' with with years' experience of its summer yield that they had never seen it lower, and my gauging gave a full 2 to 3 hundred thousand gallons per day, which can be, further increased by a judicious conservation as the exigencies of the town demand,

An ample head can be obtained at about 4 miles from the Te Te Puke Post Office, taking the main in almost a direct line across country. . I did think, until \nore conversant with the country, that tha b.-st location foP'the.pipe-line u-jjU be down the Kirikiri Creek to its junction with, the Raparapahoe, but on further investigation I found that it can be with greater advantage brought almost direct after coming out of the bush into the open country and les3en the length of the main. Should it be necessary to obtain a greater head to give a greater flow over the hill which the road follows,'this can be easily accomplished by locating the intake somewhat further up stream. The size of mains I would recommend is Sin. to just over the aforesaid hill l and 7in thence to town, subject to minor modifications after survey. Owing to the undulating nature of the country it will be necessary to instil air and scour valves at fairly frequent intervals and these I have allowed for. ''

The crossing of the Raparapahoe can either be done by bridging it, inexpensively, if the river does not flood too high, or by sinking the pipes into the river bed, preferably using cast iron pipes, which should be suitably protected.

At the intake probably a small concrete wall, which can hardly be designated a dam, will be all that is required at this stage, to give the water a good lead of! into the pipes, just according to the situation,

The main after leaving the summit on the road where a quantity of maize has been threshed, would cross the Raparapahoe, through Mr McCormick's property, cross No. 3 road through a paddock of green oats :to the slaughter yards, across the swamp into the show paddock, about 10 chains south of the school, then in front of the old cottage with lemon trees surrounding it, on to the road about 5 chains south of Mr Brown's residence and so on to the Main Street.

Some three miles of reticulation are provided for with the necessary valves and fire-plugs, and I would point out to your Board the desirability of getting a percentage of spare pipes for future extensions which are. sure to be needed early, if the scheme goes on, and it would be good business to grant these, and you will get the pipes cheaper under the first, contract than subsequently.

The following is the list of ptreets proposed to be reticulated with the sizes of the pipes:

' Main Street, 68chns, Gin pipe' Oxford ~ 35 „ 4in 2 : King ~ 20 „ 4in 2 Stpast.Hotel 16 ~ '4in 2 . Cameron St. 38 „ - 4in 2 : Stewart St. 14,, 3in.2 OrouaSt.' 8,, 3in 2 This, I am certain, will give Te Puke a, water supply which will be a comfort as a domestic supply, a good safeguard against a serious conflagration, a decided antidote to the dust fiend and one' generally which the residents will find of; the. utmost service. ; 150chs8in main at£l3 per chain - - 1950 9 0 170ehs7inmainat£ll 1997 10 0 68chs 6in pipe at £9 612 0 0 151chs4inpipeat£58s 815 8!0 22chs3in at £4 15s 104 10 0 Intake - - - 250 0 0 Creek Crossings-"., - 100 0;0 Fire plugs,'air, stop & scour valves - 230 0 0 100 services at £1 each 100 0 0 ""m'To 10 par cent Engineer ■!. • ingandsundries- - ■ 615 19 0 £6775"T0