WATER RESTRICTIONS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 November 1939, Page 6

WATER RESTRICTIONS

ENFORCEMENT IN MASTERTON TOMORROW ! — HOSING OF LAWNS PROHIBITED. SERIOUS POSITION REACHED. Hosing restrictions are to be eii* forced in Masterton from tomorrow. a decision to that effect having been made by the Masterton Borough Council at its meeting last night. This year the restrictions will be imposed under a zoning scheme and the hosing of all lawns is prohibited. The Borough Engineer. Mr C. R. Mabson. submitted a zoning scheme which received the unanimous support of the council. This scheme provides for the borough to be divided into three zones. Lansdowne, the east side of Queen Street oi' the main highway and the western side of Queen Street. Two days a week are allotted to each zone, when hosing is to be allowed between the hours of 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. On Sundays hosing will be permitted in all zones, between the hours of 7 and 10 a.m. "Something will have to be done to safeguard the people on the higher levels and some restriction should be imposed." observed the Mayor, Mr T. Jordan, who added that in the past the restrictions had been more or less a farce. It would require an army of I inspectors and detectives to catch ofI fenders, he said. "My cure." he said. "is quite a different one to this —it will ! come to it ultimately, and that is me- | tering. The best authorities in the British Empire recommend that course." The serious aspect of the water shortage was stressed by the Borough Health Inspector. Mr T. A. Russell, who pointed out that, two large institutions had been unable to use their water sanitation services during certain hours in the past week. Councillor W. Kemp spoke of the enormous quantity of water being wasted on lawns while people towards the end of the supply pipes were unable to flush their cisterns. After some discussion as to the desirability of allowing sports bodies to use water on sports grounds it was resolved to prohibit the hosing of lawns, the watering of sports grounds by hosing to be allowed only undor the jurisdiction of the Borough Engineer and at his discretion. The Mayor pointed out that a number of people living outside the borough had the right to draw off water from the borough mains through meters. These people used between four and five million gallons per year. Although the water was metered, their use of the water must be reasonable, otherwise the council would have to reconsider the whole question. It would be just as well to draw attention to the fact that they had a preferential draw off and that the restrictions now enforced applied to them as well as other users of the borough water supply. This course the council agreed to.