The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1909. SEWERAGE IN NELSON.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2691, 22 December 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1909. SEWERAGE IN NELSON.

•Having just authorised a loan of £70,000 for sewerage, the ratepayers of this borough will naturally be interested in the experience of the inhabitants of Nelson/ who likewise sanctioned a septic tank system some time back.’ A report 'published in another column of this issue is distinctly disquieting. The Government Health authorities strongly condemn the scheme, and the Town Council will apparently have to set to work and almost reconstruct the whole of the works* Investigations by Health officers go to show that the septic tank in some way became unworkable, and the sewage, instead of being treated in that receptacle, was allowed to pass straight through the pipes into the harbor. As there were oyster hods in the vicinity, it will be readily understood that Nelson sanitation has been injured rather than improved by the expenditure of the sewerage loan money. AVhilst the report provides many hints for Gisborneites, there is no need for alarm. Dr. Valintine makes it clear, that it is not the septic tank system which is at fault, but ill-con-struction and bad supervision. It seems evident that through pipe breaks or faulty joints, large quantities of subsoil and salt water have found their way through the sewers, and have destroyed the effectiveness *of the septic tank. Mr. Alestayer, who devised the scheme, -was, as the result of some friction, not retained to supervise. In our own case the Council very wisely decided, from the outset, to retain Air Alarchant’s services to supervise the establishment of the scheme he has formulated. This should ensure that nothing will be left undone that could possibly add to its efficiency. At the same time the experience of Nelson should emphasise the necessity of providing for the proper drainage of the town at the same time that sewerage is being established, otherwise there will always be a danger of too much water finding its way into the sewers. Prior to the poll we had the Alayor’s assurance that drainage "would be carried out simultaneously with road construction, and this is certainly a wise and necessary course to >follow.