WORMS AND SMALL SNAIL
Wainui Water Is A Live Question
A further test made of the Wainuiomata water supply, which a week ago was found to contain water fleas and vegetable matter, has resulted in the discovery of small worms and a small snail in the supply.
Mr. G. Norris, of 63 Peel Place, Wainuiomata, carried out the first test of the tap water at his home on December 6. Last Sunday he ran off 25 to 30 gallons and found that the proportion of residue had decreased, but that the contamination was great. Living organisms were found in the residue. Ten large larvae were seen floating on the surface of the water.
Unique day
Mr. Norris said the Hutt County Council’s explanation of the dirty water, as reported in the “Evening Post” last Tuesday, suggested that Saturday, December 7, was a unique day for contaminated water.
“This is by no means so,” he said. “My own experience is that dirty water has been supplied intermittently for at least a year. Letters to ‘The Post’ and discussion with others confirm that contaminated water has been a recurrent feature of Wainuiomata’s water supply for several years.
“With so much sediment coming through the mains supply so frequently, two questions present themselves — Why is there no filtration or settling system in the water supply? If there is such a system, why is it not functioning efficiently?”
The District Medical Officer for the Hutt Valley, Dr. A. H. Paul, said today that samples were taken of water at 61 Peel Place on December 11 and were tested at the D.S.I.R. The water was found to be clear, with no evidence of life or debris. A bacteriological test was also carried out and results were similar to that normally got from the water supply, which comes from Skerrett’s Creek.
Questioned regarding the grading of the water, Dr. Paul said the water came from an upland surface catchment area and there was normally some contamination from upland sources of water because they were open to animals. The grading was D.
A provisional grading of public water supplies issued by the Board of Health in 1961 for the Department of Health shows that among the several places in New Zealand using water graded D for public uses were Feilding, Featherston, Waihi, and numerous far south towns.
Not allowed
Dr. Paul had no comment to make on this, nor on the fact that the Department of Health would not allow the Petone Borough Council to use the Korokoro water supply for public consumption, although it, too, had been graded D. The provisional grading of public water supplies describes water graded as D as being “highly unsatisfactory until adequately treated.”
Questioned regarding debris in the water and asked if the answer was better filters, Dr. Paul replied that the question was one for the Hutt County Council to answer. It was a matter of treatment of the water and all he could do was act in an advisory capacity.
Dr. Paul said the officer who took samples from 61 Peel Place had called at the home of Mr. Norris for samples, but there was no one at home. It is understood calls were made to other homes in the street, but no water samples were taken elsewhere, other than at the house next to Mr. Norris’s.
Commenting on the water supply, the chief engineer for the Hutt County Council, Mr. L. S. Donnelley, said the water was disturbed on December 6 and 7 through the switching into the Skerrett’s Creek supply of the Wellington supply, and with the water coursing through at 300 lb pressure to the square inch, the silt in the mains had been swept through.
Usage
He said the normal daily gallonage used from the Skerrett’s Creek supply was 250,000 gallons. On December 6, 500,000 gallons were used and on December 7, the figure rose to 600,000 gallons. He thought it likely it was necessary to switch in the Wellington water supply again last weekend.
Mr. Donnelley said he expects stage two of the Hutt County Council’s scheme for the water supply of Wainuiomata will be developed within a year or two. It provides for a 1,000,000 gallon reservoir on the hill ridge to the south of the Wainui River which will include filtration and chlorination plants. The water would still be used from Skerrett’s Creek, but there would then be a storage place for it.
Mr. Donnelley said that, when stage three of the scheme was completed, when the population is about 30,000, a third reservoir would be erected.
