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1929
9 May 1929
GULGONG WATER SCHEME
Aldermen Address Public Meeting INEXHAUSTIBLE SUPPLY AT WAIT-A-WHILE 'The Quality is Entirely Satisfactory'
Question of Modern Conveniences
'The water from the proposed source of supply (the wait a-while shaft) is perfectly satisfactory for all purposes.'- Ald. (Doctor) Tunley.
With the Mayor, Ald. J. H. Stahl, presiding, a meeting was held in the Pictoria Theatre on April 26, to consider the proposed water supply scheme for Gulgong. The Mayor and Aldermen T. Amies and L. Tunley, emphasised the need for a water supply in Gulgong.
THREE SECTIONS.
The Mayor, in opening the meeting, said the question would be dealt with in three sections, finance, which he himself would take, the need and quantity, which Ald. Amies would deal with, and the quality of the water, which was in the hands of Alderman (Doctor) Tunley.
THE POLL.
The Mayor said that on July 11 last year the Council submitted the question of a water supply to the people, and it was turned down. Since then a large number of ratepayers had asked that the question be put again to the people. The new Council consists of seven new men, and these new men were displaying activity and the question was being pushed on quicker than the old Council might have done. He said there was some confusion existing that the Council desired to bring the scheme in without consulting the ratepayers. That was not the case.
Prior to the last poll, said the Mayor, there was a certain amount of propaganda in opposition to the scheme, and a number of people had been scared in regard to rates and rents. One man had said his rent would go up 10/- per week. That, the Mayor, pointed out, was out of all reason. The scheme would cost the average householder 2s to 3s per week. 'The cost of the scheme is £24,400, which includes the amount of money which has already been expended on the wait-a-while shaft, namely £2880,' said the Mayor. 'The minimum rate for occupied lots of land would in each case provide for a yearly supply of 46,000 gallons.'
The Mayor then dealt with the rates, etc., payable on vacant blocks and other aspects of the finances.
In conclusion, the Mayor said that most of the business people were in favor of the scheme.
THE NEED.
Ald. Amies said that if he took 39 gallons of water to anyone's place and asked one penny for it he would be asked to keep on bringing water at that price; yet that was about the cost of the supply under the proposed scheme. He said that some people were saying that underground water would not grow flowers and vegetables. That was not correct. They could see evidence of the value of underground water at the Hospital, where the matron kept a garden going with it. He referred to the value of a water supply in cases of fires, and in being a factor in cheaper insurance rates. Water could be used for improving our parks, the showground, and if, as is proposed, the Council decided on the erection of municipal sale yards, water would be required. They all knew what an asset more up-to-date sale yards than Gulgong had at present were to Dunedoo and Mudgee. Water would be required for the public tennis courts, and a bowling green-movements which were in the air at the present time, both of which would be valuable assets to the town. A large amount of the £24,000 for the scheme would flow back to the various business houses in Gulgong, as there would be a big wage sheet. Other towns were making greater progress than Gulgong because they had more modern conveniences. They we're all acquainted with the City versus Country cry, and it was no wonder. People made for the cities where there were all sorts of conveniences.
Ald. Amies read the following extracts of reports furnished by the Department of Public Works at various periods to show that the 'Wait-a-while shaft was a satisfactory source of supply in regard to quantity and quality:-
'Nov. 13, 1879: - The Wait-a-while shaft, or its neighborhood, offers a water supply superior to that from the Cudgegong river as being purer, nearer and apparently inexhaustible. That the supply is inexhaustible or in any case capable of satisfying a much larger demand than is likely to be required for domestic purposes is indisputable from the following facts authenticated by several trustworthy witnesses. During the dry seasons of 1875-1876 an average population of 5000 was entirely dependent for water on the Wait-a-while shaft, which not only met all demands to the extent sometimes of 30,000 gallons a day, but did not seem the least affected thereby, the water in the evening standing at the same level as the water in the morning.
'July 3, 1920: - Pumping at the 'Wait-a-while shaft has been continued since June 7. The water level in the well has been practically stationary between four and five feet deep. The pump has been kept going to yield about 3,600 gallons per hour.
'August 27, 1920: - The three months' trial has been satisfactory. It therefore seems safe to consider the drift at the Wait-a-while is an adequate source of supply for the town of Gulgong for present requirements, or any demand that is likely to arise in the near future. The water is clearly suitable for domestic purposes.'
QUALITY OF WATER.
Ald. Tunley gave some facts regarding the quality of the water, which he said was one of the burning questions. An adequate supply, he said, is the most urgent need of Gulgong.
'You have only to cast your mind back to the most disastrous fires which almost wiped out the business portions of Coonamble. Moree and Trangie, to say nothing of the serious outbreak at Coolah quite recently,' he said. 'No sane business man can be expected to invest money in a town where such catastrophes can happen; these things can happen in spite of a water supply, but their spread can be controlled if a water supply is available.
'The water from the proposed source of supply is perfectly satisfactory for all purposes that Gulgong residents may need. I know there has been a lot of opposition to the scheme from that point of view. I have heard it said that the samples of water sent to the Board of Health were not taken from the Wait-a-while shaft at all, but from a tank nearby. Let us look into this question and you will see that that could not be possible.
'Water in any tank must necessarily come either from the rain or from some underground supply. Now, if the water in that tank had been pumped into it from a shaft nearby, and that water was reported satisfactory, then the water from the shaft must certainly be satisfactory, as it is the same water. On the other hand if it was simply rain water the analyst's report would have been entirely different.
'Underground water contains substances which are never found in rain water.'
Ald. Tunley, continuing, said he had before him copies of the analyst's reports on samples of water taken on Feb. 19, 1919, and June 14, 1919. He compared the analyses of the water from the shaft with the one which would be given for water from a tank. He dealt with the physical characters, which, he said, could vary in either case, depending on the amount of dead leaves, mud, dead frogs, etc., in the tank, that is, as regards color, clearness, odor, reaction and sediment. It was the chemical characters that concerned us. He then gave details of the various items as they appeared in the analyst's report.
'I know,' said Ald. Tunley, 'that this comparison will satisfy anyone with brains that the samples taken could not by any means have been taken from a tank, but that the samples sent were honest samples taken from the shaft itself.
'Now, some might ask whether we would allow them to go and take a sample for themselves. At present the water has lain in the shaft for some years, and would not give a true test.
'In the report of the Public Works Department, written by one of its own engineers, it was stated that the source of supply may be considered entirely satisfactory as to quality and that the water improved as the pumping progressed. Let me explain this. Water taken early in the test had been lying for a long time in close contact with substances which would render it hard. As the pumping went on the water from the underground stream, which supplies the shaft, would be induced to flow more rapidly, and being in contact with the lime and so on for a shorter time would necessarily be more soft than that drawn earlier.
'Another question which is agitating the doubters is will the Wait-a-While water grow vegetables and flowers. 'Well, why not? At the time of the pumping there was a luxuriant growth all around the parts where the water was lying after being pumped out of the shaft. In a very dry spell even tank water cannot always promote growth, but simply keep plants alive till the rainfall. With a continuous water supply there is no reason on earth why we should not each have our own vegetable and flower gardens. I do not need to emphasise the beneficial effect on the health of cheerful colorful surroundings. As it is there is no incentive in Gulgong to keep a garden.
'Some people quibble at the cost of the scheme, yet pay 3/- for a meagre 100 gallons of water when their tanks are dry.'
Ald. Tunley said we might get a steam laundry in Gulgong if we had a water supply. Referring to the carting of water from Reedy Creek and Tuxford's dam, Ald. Tunley said the Reedy Creek water was only recently condemned by the Board of Health at the end of the last dry spell. 'As for Tuxford's dam,' he said, 'would you take the risk of introducing disease into your body by using impure water? After all we have the Government analyst's report that the water on the Wait-a-While shaft is entirely satisfactory. Surely that is enough to satisfy anybody.'
Ald. Tunley also dealt with other aspects of the question of a supply, pointing out the advantages to be gained by keeping down dust on the roads. Diseases, he said, were bred in dust. The body absorbs some of it. Dust was not only unpleasant but unhealthy.
He referred to the fine park, Robertson park, in Mudgee. Anzac park, he said, could be the same if there was a water supply here. He felt confident that on this occasion the ratepayers would vote in favor of the scheme.
QUIET MEETING
The meeting throughout was orderly and very quiet. Ald. Tunley, in his remarks, was very clear and intelligible.
A few questions were asked and answered.
The Mayor said that water with a little hardness was better than none at all.
Voices, - Hear! Hear!
The mayor said it was the intention of the Council to hold further meetings. He made mention of Mr. Porter's generosity, in placing the theatre at their disposal for that evening free of cost.
A vote of thanks to Mr. Porter, was carried by acclamation1
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