A historical exploration of various meter huts or stations to understand the full layout.
With numerous scattered references to meter huts and other related structures from the Wainuiomata Water Works, I decided to look into the subject further, documenting and photographing the remaining structures to gain a clearer understanding of their purpose and history. To gather this information, I combined two smaller excursions within Reservoir Valley, completed separately due to the recent spell of exceptionally wet and windy weather, which made a single extended trip impractical.
I began by visiting an unrelated site for today’s objective, where the old water race is still visible. From there, I moved on to a location that once contained a small structure referred to on a map as Venturi Meter House. I had an old photograph believed to show this small concrete and brick structure, and I set out to confirm its exact position today, something I’m now confident I’ve identified.
Later, I walked to the Chlorine Building before examining once again, an exposed section of the old water race beside the road.
However, my main objective was close by, to visit a mostly underground concrete hut connected to the Orongorongo Pipeline on Maintenance Road, where I managed to photograph the interior through small wall openings.
This structure remains something of a mystery. It is clearly linked to the Orongorongo Pipeline, yet there is also an older concrete hut further west that once housed a wall-mounted meter apparently associated with the same line. This does raise a couple of questions: was the hut to the west an earlier meter house, with the one I photographed today, a later meter house? Or could the older structure be connected to the water race instead, given that the race also passes beneath?
Questions aside, both of these short excursions involved only a small amount of bush bashing, just enough to qualify as such, and were mainly intended to fill gaps in my historical understanding and help piece together the story of this part of Wainuiomata.
