Municipal and Official Handbook of the City of Auckland, New Zealand/Water Supply
DOMAIN, SHOWING SOURCE OF AUCKLAND'S FIRST WATER SUPPLY.
WATER SUPPLY.
In the early days of the City, the water supply was obtained from storage of rain water, springs, and wells (public and private). The public wells, with pumps attached, were situated as follows. Two were in Queen Street, one nearly opposite Mr. J. H. Dalton, tailor, and the other opposite Hardie's Buildings; one in Albert Street, opposite Masefield's Buildings; and one in Kitchener Street, nearly opposite the Magistrate's Court. There was also a spring in Wellesley Street East, outside the old barrack wall. It is interesting to note that when the asphalting of Queen Street necessitated the removal of water mains from road to footpath, two of the old wells were unearthed. The new water mains now pass through them.
In those days people had to carry their supplies in buckets from the wells to their homes. The journey to the wells began at 5 a.m., and so great was the demand that queues were formed so that everyone got to the well in turn.
In 1864, an agitation was raised about the difficulty of obtaining water, with the result that the Government instructed the late Mr. Henry Wrigg, C.E., to report on a water supply for the City. Mr. Wrigg recommended a gravitation scheme from Nihotupu, the head works suggested by him being close to the site of the recently constructed auxiliary dam. Nothing was done in connection with the report, and the old state of things continued until 1869, when the Government laid a 6-inch main from the small lake in the Domain to the City, via Domain Street, Abercrombie Street and Wakefield Street; stand pipes being erected at various points en route. Still the supply was inadequate, and in January, 1872, owing to a drought, water was sold in the streets by hawkers, and resulted in the City Council augmenting the Domain supply by pumping 30,000 gallons per day from Seccombe's Well, Khyber Pass Road. Even with this addition, the supply was still meagre, and only fulfilled the mere necessities of living. There was no surplus for public or private baths, for garden or street watering, and, worse still, for fire-fighting—all of which are to-day regarded as essentials.
In 1874 the Corporation secured the services of Mr. E. O. Moriarty, C.E., to report on a water supply. After inspecting the Onehunga Springs, Nihotupu, Lake St. John and Western Springs, he finally recommended, without hesitation, the latter, expressing his opinion in the following terms:—"Taking the present population of the City, and those parts of the suburbs likely to be dependent on the City for water at 20,000 persons, one million gallons per day would be a liberal allowance at 50 gallons per head per day, but if manufactories are to be established and shipping to be supplied then 75 gallons per head would be a safer estimate, and looking at the peculiarly favourable position of Auckland and to the probability of its becoming a great 
WESTERN SPRINGS PUMPING STATION.
(Superseded by gravitation supply from Waitakere.)
centre of commerce, there seems every reason to anticipate that within the next ten to fifteen years the population will be doubled, and the demand for water proportionally increased."
Mr. Moriarty's opinion of the future of Auckland, both as regards population and commerce, has been fully proved. His report on the Western Springs was adopted by Council, which purchased Motion's property for £20,000, and work was commenced in 1875, Messrs. T. & S. Morrin being the successful tenderers for the supply of pipes, machinery, and the whole of the work of reticulation. The undertaking, which was supervised by Mr. W. Errington, C.E., was completed in July, 1877, when the water was turned into the City reservoirs.
Mr. Moriarty's estimate that the Western Springs supply would serve the City for 25 years from the date of his report, was also shown to be correct, as in 1899 it became evident that an auxiliary supply must be obtained for summer consumption, to meet the requirements of the rapidly growing city. At this time, Mr. H. Munro Wilson, C.E., and the late H. W. Atkinson, suggested the possibility of obtaining an auxiliary supply from Nihotupu (running water only), carried along the southern side of the dividing range. This scheme was approved by the Council, and in May 1900, an additional supply of one million gallons per day was turned into the City reservoirs. For two months before the new supply became available the citizens had been placed on short rations, the water being turned off nightly at 6 p.m. and not turned on until 6 a.m. the following morning.
This auxiliary supply, with extensions, was subsequently adopted as the second part of a threefold scheme of water supply from the Waitakere Ranges. In 1902, acting under instructions from the Council, Messrs. H. Munro Wilson, C.E., and J. Carlaw (Waterworks Engineer) reported on a scheme of water supply from the Waitakere River, which made provision, by the erection of a dam, for the impounding of 220 million gallons of water, and two years later the Council engaged the services of Mr. Mestayer, C.E., of Wellington, to report on Messrs. Wilson and Carlaw's scheme and the question of further extension. He endorsed the report of the latter and, in addition, recommended the erection of a dam on the Nihotupu River, now under construction, and, when necessary, a further extension to the Huia. The water from Waitakere was turned into the City mains in 1906, and this, together with the running water from Nihotupu, is now supplying 107,000 people with 56 gallons per head per day. When the dam on the Nihotupu River is completed the available storage will be 840 million gallons. In order to preserve the purity of the water, the City Council controls over 10,000 acres of land in the ranges, embracing the watersheds of Waitakere, Nihotupu, and Huia. A portion of this land was purchased, but the greater part was obtained from the Government, which vested it as a domain in the City Council.
PONSONBY RESERVOIR.
The buildings on the right are the workshops.
A CORNER OF THE WATERWORKS SHOP.
"VENTURI" METER AND VALVES.
The whole of the water is gravitated from Nihotupu and Waitakere into service reservoirs at Khyber Pass, Arch Hill and Ponsonby. The water for the higher levels is raised by means of electric motors from Khyber Pass to Mount Eden Reservoir, and from there part of the supply is gravitated to Mount Hobson Reservoir, which serves Remuera and Tamaki West districts.
The increase of the persons supplied with water has been fairly regular during the past twenty years, as shown hereunder:—
| Date. | Population supplied with water. |
Increase. | |
| 1900 | 52,000 | ||
| 1905 | 62,000 | 10,000 | |
| 1910 | 75,000 | 13,000 | |
| 1915 | 94,000 | 19,000 | |
| 1920 | 107,000 | 13,000 | |
| Total increase, | 55,000 | or over 100% in 20 years. |
In addition to the natural growth in population of the City proper during the last twenty years, Arch Hill and Parnell, with a united population of 7,969, amalgamated with the City, in 1913; Grey Lynn, with 8,000, in 1914; Eden Terrace and Remuera, with 7,877, in 1915; and Epsom, with 3,000, in 1917, being a total addition of 26,848. All the districts named, with the exception of Epsom, were supplied with water from the City mains at the time of amalgamation.
INTERIOR OF OLD TYPE OF SERVICE RESERVOIR.
INTERIOR OF NEW TYPE OF SERVICE RESERVOIR.
PUMPING STATION, WESTERN SPRINGS.
PUMPING STATION, KHYBER PASS.
The service reservoirs, seven in number, are situated at Arch Hill, 232 feet above H.W.M.; Ponsonby, 232 feet above H.W.M.; Khyber Pass (two reservoirs), 310 feet above H.W.M.; Mount Eden (two reservoirs), 498 feet above H.W.M.; and Mount Hobson, 484 feet above H.W.M., having a total capacity of 15 million gallons. The gravitation mains are 25 miles in length, and consist of 7 miles of 27 inches diameter, 9½ miles of 24 inches, 2½ miles of 21 inches, 3 miles of 20 inches and 3 miles of 18 inches. The reticulation mains cover 158 miles and vary in diameter from 12 inches to 4 inches.
The capital invested in the undertaking is £715,211 12s 7d, and the gross revenue £73,534 1s 3d. The average ratio of management expenses to revenue is 16%. The capita consumption is 56 gallons, which compares very favourably with any city in Australasia.
CHARGES.
| Ordinary domestic supply, up to £100 rental value | 2½% |
| Thereafter | 2% |
| On non-residential properties. | 1% |
| Non-consumers rate | ¾% |
| W.C.'s.—In private house for the first two | 15/- per annum |
| For each additional closet alter first two | 7/6 per annum |
| Hotels or lodging houses | 30/- to 60/- per annum |
| Baths, in private houses | Free |
| {{{1}}}„ in hotels, lodging houses, and boarding houses | 15/- to 56/- per annum |
| Lavatories | 10/- to 20/- {{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„ |
| Water by Meter, ordinary | 10d per 1000 gallons |
| {{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„ in bulk to outside districts | 1/- {{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„ |
| {{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„ to individual supplies outside City and to Government buildings | 1/6 {{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„ |
| {{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„ Harbour Board (shipping) | 2/3 {{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„ |
| {{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„ Primary schools, up to 500 gallons per child per annum | Free |
| {{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„ in excess of that quantity | 10d per 1000 gallons |
| {{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„ for concrete, 3d per cubic yard or | 1/6 {{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„ |
| {{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„ for bricks, 6d per 1000 or | 1/6 {{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„ |
| Garden Hose, for an area under ¼ acre | £1 per annum |
| {{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„ over ¼ acre and under ½ acre | £1/10/- per annum |
| {{{1}}}„{{{1}}}„ over ½ acre | £2/-/-, or by meter, 10d per 1000 gallons |
The office of Waterworks Engineer was created in 1899, when the present Engineer was appointed. Prior to this date consulting engineers were employed by the Council. Mr. W. Errington, C.E., was engaged in this capacity from 1875 to December, 1888, and W. Anderson, City Engineer, from 1889 until 1899.