The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-03-05
THE FAILURE OF OUR WATER SUPPLY

The partial failure Of the city's
water supply is becoming a more
serious matter than anything of the
kind which we have yet experienced.
We have enjoyed a series Of compar
atively wet years. During that per
lod, the supply of water, if not al
ways ample for irrigation, has soon
been renewed by the return of rain.
1t has always been abundant for do
nestle uses. In the meantime the
| city has grown, and the number of
taps has greatly increased. Sud
denly,an old fashioned drought comes
down on US, right in what ought to
be our rainy season. The streams
which supply our reservoirs are run
ming very low. People get up in the
morning to find their taps dry. They
have to sl1irmish around for water to
wash their faces. Housekeepers
cannot improve Monday for the
weeks washing. The shower bath
and the plunge are both becoming
unattainable Injuries. Not only are
the green leaves turning sere, but
the tender lawns are in danger of 60
ing thirsty. We all hope the drought
is not going to last long; but who
knows?
Meanwhile the Superintendent Of
Water Works and his men will do
the best they know. If they do, or
do not, they will be we'll growled at,
all the same. 1t is an emergency for
which the city is not prepared.
There are no springs or streams
available that can be turned In.
Contemplated storage reservoirs
have not yet been built. There is a
fine system of pipes and taps, but
[ the heavens refuse to fill them. Evi
IDENTIFY nothing can be done at once
to relieve the distress, except to dis
tribute the moderate supply there is,
with economy, and to wait with pa
tience for the rain to fall.
Can anything be done to prevent
the recurrence of the evil in the fu-
ture? Build storage reservoirs, do
you say? But they are very expen-
sive, and might, if not thoroughly
constructed, endanger portions of
the city by breaking away in a storm.
The plan we would suggest is quite
different, and we think much cheaper.
safer, and more certain to meet the
need.
We all know that beneath the city
already exists a vast reservoir of the
purest water which drives its pent
up floods to a height of forty feet
above sea level wherever an artesian
well has been pierced down to it.
That reservoir is one that is always
full, and substantially unaffected by
drought. The plan we advocate
then is, to bore a sufficient number
of artesian wells to supply the
greater part of the city, and by
means of steam pumps to force the
water to the proper height above
the city, say one hundred feet, or
sixty feet above the artesian level.
From some statements which have
come to us from competent engi-
neers we are inclined to believe that
the cost of wells and pumps and
working would leave the water
works bureau large profit at
present rates, even if the entire city
supply was derived from that source,
which of course it would not be.
The source is certain and unfailing
as Lake Michigan is to the people of
Chicago. 1t Is absolutely without
peril, as TO dams would exist to
break down. If small distributing
reservoirs are needed, either the
present ones can be used, or one
can be constructed on the Punch
bowl slope.
One advantage of such an auxil-
larry pumping system, is that It
would prevent the necessity which
now appears unavoidable, of depriv
ing, during drought, the cultivators
of taro III Nuuanu valley of their
water rights, thereby subjecting them
to heavy loss, and the Government
to corresponding payment of dam
ages. As matters now stand, the
Government expect to provide a
large sum for cancelling of water
rights. BY our plan this sum could
be saved and applied to pumping
works.
Now, while the public mind is
wide-awake upon 1t, is a good time
to discuss this subject Has any one
better plan to offer than the one
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