THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1908. A SERIOUS POSITION.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9043, 30 January 1908, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1908. A SERIOUS POSITION.

It is useless to blink the fact that Masterton'a water supply is, and has been for some time, in an unsatisfactory condition. It was a mere accident that on Tuesday las'; disclosed the utter inadequacy of the supply to meet the most ordinary requirements in the event of an outbreak of fire in the majn street. On that afternoon the pressure.was not more than half normal for the season of the year, and when a one and three-quarter inch jet was put into requisition to extinguish some scattered flames the gauge showed only 201b pressure instead of at least 501b. All that could be got through the hose was little more than a feeble squirt that would have been ineffective at a height of eighteen or twenty feet. The pressure was unable to do more than give a modest toll upon the fire- ! bell, which it is supposed to operate. To learn from the captain of the local Fire Brigade that Tuesday's water supply could not have suppressed a fire in an ordinary dwelling house wichout the aid of the Jubilee en-

gine is something to cause disquietude, and when, in addition, we find that the Jubilee engine is antiquated ' and hy no means reliable, we have a state of things which ought to be « remedied without a moment's un- < neccessary delay. The Mayor's explanation of the reduced pressure is not logical. It is that while the volume of water coming into the reservoir is ample, the main coming into the town along the Upper Plain road is too small to give a proper pressure. Last winter a pressure of 901bs was registered, and there., has not been a great many additional connections since then —not sufficient at any rate to very materially reduce the force. If the main could furnish that pressure in winter it should be able to carry it at any time if the water is ample, because unless choked in some way its carrying capacity with a full volume in the reservoir must remain stable. We learn that during the past two or three months the pressure has ranged at between 401b and 581b, so that the practically useless pressure of Tuesday last requires some better explanation than that given by the Mayor. If there is ample water in the reservoir, as he states, then either the pipes must be choked or there must be an extraordinary wastage. Our impression is that the water at the -intake is not equal to fire demands, and also that serious waste goes on through the extravagant use of water on gardens and lawns, and that it is timesomj check was placed upon this wastage. The Mayor says nothing can be done to remedy the existing state of things until the extension of- the supply m>w under consideration is taken in hand. In this we differ from His Worship. The safety of the town depends upon prompt temporary measures being taken, and it is possible for such measures to be taken without in any way interfering with the larger dual scheme of water an* sewage extension which is now being evolved with a dilatoriness as unnecessary as it is tantalising. As we pointed out some three months ago, a few hundred pounds judiciously expended would secure an ample and reliable supply of water, and there should be no delay in setting about acquiring that desideratum. It may be a couple of years or more before th.3 extension scheme now under consideration is an accomplished fact, and are the townspeople to be in imminent peril and kept in a state of anxiety all that time when a comparatively trifling expenditure would set the trouble at rest? The Borough Council should set to work to provide for the present safety of the town at a cost which the ratepayers will not object to, and meanwhile steps should be taken to prevent undue waste from any cause whatsoever.