Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1905 THE NELSON DRAINAGE SCHEME.

Nelson Evening Mail, 25 November 1905, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1905 THE NELSON DRAINAGE SCHEME.

points .to be "wA.r'cttEiK THE city is t* be congratulated on ih'j floating of the first instalment of the drainage loan, and it 1« r.or.ou that the work of reticulation will be put in ha»d at as eariy a dale as possible. It will be re-tuenibt-red that the first area to be drained will be Toi Toi and Washington Valleys, where improvement is most needed. Thereafter ' the city area and ©that* districts will be drahitd in sections, the Wood, and the Brook-street and other outskirts being last in order in the scheme. Connected with the reticulation wifl fotf tt, great septic tank, situatcrt, according to the ! pledge given to the ratepayers when the second and attiiTnativt loan poll was taken, with an effluent into the deep, or nather, pf>rnyan\>nt water of the harbour-. It will be recollected that largely because of a desire to nave the outflow into the shallow water the original proposal lor a loan was rejected by a very substantial majority. Hence, especially in view of the most recent experience with septic tanks in Sydney, it is absolutely essential that the locality of the, Affluent should be early, and tinmistakeably i defined. • # * »

At the time the agitation for drainage was -at its height here, 'a great deal of emphasis, some of it quite -unnecessary, was laid on the prevalence of a. few minofr ailmeUtii, and also of «orne more serious complaints such as typhoid . and scarlet fever-. It may be pointed out, however, that though Vthe Health Officer's reports and n*.'gUrtients at the period -W question mdght have .led en* to suppose that unless the city were drained forthwith A.n Sliidemic would break out L or *nnemic disease- lie imnossibie to eradicate, the health of the'eity. as a whole has seldom been better than during the. past, two years, that is to say, after the ailments which were affecting the colony in common at the time had worked out themselves. At the present/ moment, except for the prevalence of a little influenza, the general health is good, there are no records" of "notifiable diseases," and even an unpruccdentedly wet winter "" has passed over without a£y considerable sickness iii the community beyond the usual coughs and colds. This is no argument against the need of proper drainage, for after all it is in the warm sutamer months that the effects of bad drainage are ..most to he feared. But one cannot help regretuing that for a period at hwist the good name of Nelson for salubrity should have been brought into question, even though the ultimate object — complete and efficient draimigo — was worthy. * * * * ' ' The issue of the greatest moment ■

in connection with the drainage scheme always has been, a.ncl continue to be, Uuo locality of tho outflow from the septic tank. Doctors and di-ainagc engineers may fay what they like or what they imagine about the innocuousriess of the effluent. But experience, constantly recurring points to the need fo.- the utmost caution to ensure a volume of running or tidal water sufficient to minimise all °nsk of pollution. Reports appeared in the Sydney papers as recently as the 4th of this month re-g?r-.cL I . n /, the P° llu tion of the waters of Middle. -Harbour by the effluent from septic tanks. On the Bth instant Dr Tidswell reported that oysters were contaminated. Two days later Dr Cooksey reported unfavourably against the assu-npl/on that an effluent from a septic tank must of necessity be innocuous. Several property-owners m ihe North Ward of Drummoyne f.iid a portriou of Five Dock, iiar>3ursuburbs of Sydney, are noting i r hc€e* various reports and urging* them to back up objection to the Sristaiiatnon of a local septic tank with an effluent into the bay, chiefly on the. groun-1 that the bay is" shallow^ irid continually shoaling, and as 'there is very Little eq^ and flow of water. The conditions, however, oW far more favourable in any en'-' cmnstances than in the vi'ciniiiy of the immediate foreshore of Nelson Hence, the need of absolutely insisting upon the observance of the pledge for a really deep-wafci outflow from the Nelson septic U-r,k is paramount. ♦'» • »

An appeii'dcd extract from ■ a letter by a .'-'Property Owner/" to <he Sydney sums' :up the ffejieral attitude of the IV y public to the septic tank, and the contention that a 'measure' of pollutioii must origfiimte from thatwhich Js impure is sound in face of the combined opinions of experts. At any rate, whether the ftnpresL<?ion be the outcome of prejudice or of the instinct of self* preservation, it lias sufficient justi^ iication to entitle a cominunity concerned to demand that any t«ffluent from a jrr-ea€ septic tank. ?ii'all b»3 into permanently deep Watter, and that the oiitfltvw shall at a point distant emoug i h : . t from (business or poTWlfi'tlon &>ri± tres to remove all rink. The writoj* of the letter In question. urnler ■date 37th innt.. says :— f 'It is nr-. gtieiJ by some people who ought id know better tlnat no smell or in-. convenience is occasiotJf'd (»' "©{ftp.",; septic Canik, ln»t s»vnra;l uvntlcinon . have justlbean O'V'er the North Sydney tanks, and made a ' thorough' • examination of th« spat, and they .■found 1 hat thore wns a most olijeotlotippiV- of^oiiT C'O'nui'n'ir from ih<*ra. The effluent v:ds of a. dirty colour.

They mter\i«w««(l soiue of the residents. Who were htglify indi|g!aant 1 at the uuwiance occa»ion«ij fl 31 * 1 expic&sed tfi&r w^Jliflgnesa \o «n-« c» idencw, bjalore'tfny coonaaaitteo- taking evidence x>n thxs inaltcTi " L"J" sides lite tauisun^ cifttl stench we can fctipctl, wh^t an injusjUce t<J tne pTopei'ty-ownOra who hato in sonic msttiJnces r^idett'titere/AlnioSL a life-%iul^ Ui fea^e thbfr |w'ojpery< budtimri-y Ut*preta«-tttl from auytfeViis to 50 fiub: . Kjcftt, Their propsity woiuM felniost twcpicc unsialudoJo, ■aiid would not let, and, in fact, would i>e almost ruin to many through no fault of thieir &wiv."

Oiu* Pcas^tas for tugiadti' dwijlKß^ on the nuatter of Ja de>ep-water ciiluent f6V K W6 ftelsdn septic tank is AQt tftttt there is any int-eaition to depart from the pleagfr gj ven V° the people when the aflirthwtivv loan poll was taken, but becatiwc engineers are apt to bfe en»araoture*d <yi their own . sohienuss . and to resent YariatioWv life ovigjftal scheme of diNainag© for NblriiJii Bbnttemplated 9, point of but<H*Wj ■qWite ttc^iir ttoe heart of —the City, a&dai tk« llioie it was submitted a. very sfre&uous effort was fiiade to minimise the posstblo olfect'.o( such dutfl^W'-, This jpUrital mVjPJ*ad o«t : a SviGcfessful campaign &gamst that portion of the proposal, and it has no initiation to forego the fruits of t'be victory won on bahulf of the fu'ti^e \\v\lfceiiig. of Nel&pn's fere^oro. jfiplSttn'S l'^iaeatjfe, .an.a I^el^'fe pneTal salulji'dtjy-. feVJiisfeqjuently, from tftc uionacaii/ the drainage AVorks pegun till they are coniplofed, it is our resolve to watcn v|giliajntly that t-he efPuent of'tllb 'psuposed septic tank be condite^ieia- into really d&3# w%ter<. WttSi this reset ya-ti o3%, vtq Keartily oongTatuifevte tne city on the early"'lnaugui'atioin of Ibptter draunasptj. It will promote, or leather conserve^ the 'rfood health, of the .disfriet, .f^ijiove .the. fears of tlte. t'lniJa, n^lvcrt'se •th« ;• ma^yi rcsiillential advania^cs, aMa hiake for the pcrnjguivn't prosperity of the future.'