HH62/2/RENFRE/41

Transcription

[Page] 40

Water-Supply Districts in the Second District, - Bridge-of-Weir
(Houston), Bridge-of-Weir (Ranfurly), Inverkip, Kilbarchan, Kil
malcolm, Linwood, and Lochwinnoch; with six different sets of
lawyers' fees, six different sets of engineers' fees, six different water-
supplies to look after, six different committees, six different sets of
minutes; and the larger half of the schemes at present are in an
unsatisfactory condition. Now it appears to me, that with the
exception of Inverkip, which is remote from other villages, and which
has an efficient, though limited, water-supply system of its own,
these villages - with the addition of Houston and Crosslee, which are
badly off for water - might all have been supplied from one common
source, by means of a couple of large reservoirs placed at or near the
water-shed between Kilmalcolm and Lochwinnoch. Under such a
large scheme, the different villages could have been supplied more
securely than at present, and very much more economically. Under
a parochial system of sanitary administration one could hardly expect
things to have fallen out otherwise. It is no good crying over spilt
milk. My object in referring to the matter is to point the moral
that in future any movement should be in the way of coalescence
and unity of action.
The oldest scheme in the District is that for the supply of
Kilmalcolm Village. As early as 1875 the Kilmalcolm people appear
to have had the matter seriously under consideration, the original
scheme having been that of taking water from the Gowkhouse burn;
that proposal was not very ardently pursued, and was, luckily - for
neither in quality nor quantity was the water likely to meet the
requirements of the district - knocked on the head by the declinature
of the Board of Supervision to sanction it. In 1878 the scheme now
in operation, known as the Blacketty Scheme, was projected: there
were, indeed, two schemes, - the 'high level' reservoir scheme, and
the 'low level' scheme, the first estimated to cost £5,500, the second
£3,300; the latter was ultimately adopted. As the matter originally
stood, the water was taken from a reservoir constructed on the course
of the Blacketty stream, but the constant complaints of the villagers
as to the discolouration of the water, which is naturally peaty,
impelled the Local Authority to construct, at considerable expense, a
bye-pass channel, through which to pass flood-water without disturb-
ing the reservoir. The filters, also, have been reconstructed, and no
complaint appears now to be made as to the discolouration of the
water. The total amount of money borrowed in connection with this

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scheme has been £5,300, and the water-assessment for the year
1891-92 was 7 1/3d per £ on Owners, and 7 1/3d on Tenants.
Next in order of seniority comes the Bridge-of-Weir (Ranfurly)
Scheme, which had its inception in the year 1880; the works in their
original form were completed early in 1882. The water here is taken
from the Powburn. In 1884 the community was threatened with a
shortness of supply; and in the summer of 1885 the Committee was
compelled to resort to an intermittent supply in order to meet the
requirements of the case. In 1886 the reconstruction of the existing
reservoir, filters, and distributing tank, appears to have been pro-
ceeded with. The total amount of money borrowed in connection
with this scheme has been £4250. The water-rate for the year
1891-92 was 9 3/4d on Owners, 3 3/10d on Tenants of agricultural subjects,
and 11d. on Tenants of other subjects.
The Local Authority for the parish of Lochwinnoch appears to
have been for years, if such a phrase may be permitted, between the
devil and the deep sea, with respect to this matter of water-supply.
The village wells were found to be extensively polluted, the death-
rate of the village was high, and the Board of Supervision was pres-
sing the Local Authority to provide a proper supply of water for the
village. On the other hand, there appears to have been the greatest
difficulty in arranging for such a supply. One after another pass in
review in the minutes of the Local Authority, the Gillsyard Burn
scheme, the Garpel scheme, the Kaim Dam scheme, the Linthills
scheme. The minutes of the old parochial Local Authority close in
1890 with the adoption of the Maich Burn scheme, and the resolution
to borrow £3650, for the execution of the necessary works. The
scheme included the construction of a reservoir, with bye-pass channel,
on the course of the Maich Burn, at an elevation of about 480 feet,
with filters and clean water tank at a lower level. Various difficulties
have been encountered in the course of the prosecution of the work,
and it is understood that the original estimate has been exceeded. A
statement of the water-assessment for 1891-92 would, I find, be mis-
leading. The water-supply became available for the wants of the
village in the early summer of 1891.
In the Parish of Houston the water question has long been to the
front. In 1876 there appears to have been an extensive prevalence
of enteric fever in the Village of Houston, and what was known as
'The Cross Well' was found to be much contaminated. £30 was
spent upon the improvement of this well and its surroundings, but,