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1898. NEW ZEALAND.

WATER-CONSERVATION (FURTHER REPORTS ON) FOR MINING, IRRIGATION, DOMESTIC, FIRE-EXTINCTION, AND OTHER PURPOSES.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

Mining Township op Waihi. Domestic Water-supply. I now submit my report, together with a sketch-plan of the above township, showing the position of the proposed headworks and pipe-track, with aneroid levels in red ; also a sketch of proposed reservoir, and details illustrating scheme recommended. It may be as well to preface recommendations for a supply of water, both for domestic and fireextinction purposes, by a brief description of the locality and the somewhat peculiar conditions under which a scheme for a general water-supply must of necessity be formulated. On paper the town is represented as occupying a space of about two square miles, or 1,280 acres. In addition to the business part, which is in Waihi Street, there are numerous dwellings scattered over a large portion of the above area, for the most part on 1-acre sections, and in the vicinity of the batteries and gold-workings, which in the course of events have formed detached outlying centres of population Being so widely separated from the main centre of reticulation or distribution (which is round and about the corner of Waihi Street and Rosemont Road), to convey water to these outlying tenements for fire-extinction would be almost prohibitive, except at an unwarrantable expense. Pure water for domestic purposes only, as at the other townships already reported on, is an urgent and vital necessity for the preservation of health at Waihi, especially among the infantile population, and is here provided for in the scheme I am about to describe, and in the general Recognising the importance of a pure water-supply, several proposals have from time to time been made to obtain even a temporary supply pending the raising of sufficient funds to carry out a comprehensive permanent scheme; but Waihi, like the townships previously dealt with, is in the unfortunate position, owing to the tenure under which the land is held for business and residential purposes, that the people are debarred from raising loans under the Local Bodies Loans Act. For purposes of this report I examined :— ~ . . (1) The head-waters of the Waitete Stream, but found the water, although permanent, m such small quantity at a sufficient elevation that to obtain any useful pressure this source was not worth 611 61 (2 a ) A scheme to convey water from the Waihi Company's race at a point overlooking the chief centre of population, combined with standpipes at convenient points, would no doubt be sufficient for the business part of the town, provided the purity of the water could be assured, and answer the purpose for domestic consumption, but would be of little use for fire-extmction. (3 ) A proposal to tap the Waihi Company's high-pressure main with a 3 in. pipe, and bring water into the town and erect standpipes. This could only be considered of a temporary nature, and again, would practically be of little use for fire-extinction purposes. '(4 ) A scheme to take water from the condenser of the Waihi Company s pumpmg-station (which it was stated would supply 125 gallons per minute), and also create one or more small storage-reservoirs with filtration-beds. By this means a comparatively pure supply could be laid on but, as only a comparatively low head could be obtained, it, again, would be of little use for the suppression of fires. „,.•,, ■ -, -, ,• >i • The quality of water from any or, in fact, all of these sources is rendered highly impure, not only by contact with the surface drainage from contiguous huts and other insanitary habitations on the upper bank of the open race, but also through animal contamination. Any of these schemes can under the circumstances, only be regarded as objectionable and temporary expedients. ' After fully considering the different proposals I am of opinion there is no other source from which to obtain a permanent and fairly pure supply of water equal to the Mangatoetoe Stream, which was I understand, originally reserved for the purpose, and therefore a site for the intake and head-works has been selected about a mile and a half from the corner of Waihi Street and