however, were widely scattered, and the Government was soon faced with the serious problem of providing water for man and beast, not only at the mining-centres but also along the various tracks thereto. About £400,000 has been spent on smaller waterworks of every description, the exceeding dryness of the climate being soon made manifest by the poor result of each small but costly work carried out. It was thus proved that for any large supply of fresh water a source should be searched for elsewhere than on the surface or in the subsoil of any portion of this tableland.

The seriousness of the problem can be gauged by the usual prices paid for water in later days. Even after completion of these smaller works, the prices were:-258. per 1,000 gallons when the occasional rains filled the tanks which formed one class of the works, and £1 per 1,000 gallons when only water condensed from the extremely salt fluid obtained in wells and shafts was available.

Yielding to the pressure of popular opinion, the Government spent several thousand pounds without result, in a bore-hole more than 3,000 feet deep in solid granite; various schemes for condensing on a very large scale, at the salt lakes situated in the goldfields,

were abandoned on proof of the excessive salinity of the water of the lakes, the difficulty and cost of obtaining a sufficient supply of even this water, and the high price of fuel; and then two proposals for conservation, with sources comparatively near to the goldfields, were considered but abandoned, as the low rainfall rendered it more than questionable whether the yield would be sufficient. By a process of elimination, therefore, there was reached the accepted solution of the problem, namely, a source in the Darling Ranges bordering the well-watered west coast (Fig. 2, Plate 1). This scheme had the additional advantage that all intermediate townships, as well as the adjacent Government railway, could be supplied from the main conduit, the railway being especially benefited in its course through about 250 miles of arid country wherein railway water-supply was known to have cost as much as £60,000 in a single year.

Scope and Character of Adopted Scheme.-By the middle of 1895 the Government of Western Australia had decided that some large comprehensive scheme would be necessary; and, orders for report and recommendation having been issued, there were prepared, under the instructions of the late Mr. C. Y. O'Connor, C.M.G., M. Inst. C.E., the Author's late chief and predecessor in the position of Engineer-in-Chief of the State, thirty-one alternative proposals, from which, after study, three were chosen to be placed before the Government. The source of supply in each case was to be an impounding-reservoir in the Darling Ranges, whence the water was to be pumped in successive lifts to Mount Burgess, north of Coolgardie: thence it was to be reticulated to the various mining-centres, of which Coolgardie was In Mr. O'Connor's Report, the three schemes were stated,1 for comparative purposes, to be as follows:

one.

"The result of . . . calculations went to show (as for steel pipes) that, for one million gallons daily, the cost would be from, say, £700,000 to £1,000,000, (depending upon the size of the pipe), and with cost of delivery varying from 58. 6d. to 88. 6d. per 1,000 gallons; while, for five million gallons daily, the cost varied from, say, £2,200,000 to £2,700,000 (depending similarly upon the size of the pipe), with cost of delivery varying from 38. 5d. to 68. 7d. per 1,000 gallons; and that, for ten million gallons daily, the cost varied from, say, £3,500,000 to £4,600,000 (depending similarly on the size of the pipe), with cost of delivery varying from 38. to 58. per 1,000 gallons."

The scheme adopted was for a daily supply of 5 million gallons, at a probable capital cost of £2,500,000, and a selling-price of 3s. 6d.

1 "Report on Proposed Water-Supply (by Pumping) from Reservoire in the Greenmount Ranges," p. 8. Perth, 1896.

per 1,000 gallons, after allowing for interest and depreciation. The consumption of the water provided by this scheme, which is still in its infancy, has not yet amounted to more than one-fourth of the quantity allowed for; and the Author reported to the Government, soon after becoming responsible, that until much greater development of mining occurs, the consumption is not likely to exceed one-half of that allowed for. It is therefore due to those originally responsible to point out that when the proposals were inaugurated, and, in fact, up to the time when the works were opened, no information and no authoritative opinion outside the Public Works Department could be obtained as to the probable consumption; while, on the other hand, there were the greatest expectations in the public mind of more extensive working of low-grade mines, when comparatively cheap water should be available. These expectations were not confined to the general public; for, some doubts having been expressed in Parliament as to the probability of so much as 5,000,000 gallons being used daily on the goldfields, a well-known firm offered to take that quantity daily for 20 years at 38. 6d. per 1,000 gallons, provided that the Government would not compete with them in price. In September, 1896, Parliament sanctioned the raising of a loan of £2,500,000 for the construction of a storage-reservoir of about 5,000 million gallons capacity, a 30-inch line of steel main throughout, and a series of eight pumping-stations, with the necessary receiving-tanks and distributing-reservoirs.

In January, 1897, a Commission of English engineers-consisting of Mr. John Carruthers (the Consulting Engineer for the State in London), Dr. George F. Deacon and Professor W. C. Unwin-was appointed to inquire into and make recommendations as to the kind, thickness and size of pipe to be employed; whether it should be placed above or below ground; and the number, positions and power of the pumping-stations and engines, and the pumping and break-pressure reservoirs. Mr. O'Connor, who was then Engineer-in-Chief to the State, personally placed all available information before the Commission, which issued two reports. In the first or interim report nine pumping-stations were recommended, [as indicated in Figs. 3, Plate 1. In the final report the Commission submitted an alternative arrangement, with eight pumping-stations in lieu of nine; and in the adopted scheme the locations of the pumping-stations differ but slightly from those of the first eight stations proposed by the Commission in their interim report: but it was possible to omit the ninth pumping-station, as it was decided to deliver the water into a large service-reservoir at

R. L. 1630, near Bulla Bulling (Figs. 4, Plate 1), instead of on a high hill near Coolgardie, and to increase the lift at each of the last four stations by such small amount as would enable this to be accomplished.

A further advantage obtained from the appointment of the Commission was that full knowledge of the proposed scheme was obtained by the Consulting Engineer, thus enabling him to give his advice when sought from time to time, to make recommendations as to pumping and other machinery, and to undertake inspection of the material and plant exported to the State.

The detailed description of the works will be divided under the following heads:

I. The storage-reservoir and its catchment-area.

II. The construction of the weir.

III. The pipe-line..

IV. The pumping-machinery.

V. The pumping- and service-reservoirs, reticulation, etc.
VI. Cost of the works.

The following general outline is given here to facilitate a clearer understanding of the details.

General Outlines of Scheme.-A daily supply of 5,600,000 gallons was provided for, of which 5,000,000 gallons was for use in the goldfields, and the balance for waste and consumption en route. The supply is obtained from an artificial reservoir, having a capacity of 4,600 million gallons. From this reservoir the water is pumped through a steel conduit, 30 inches in diameter, by a series of eight pumping installations, to the main distributingreservoir at Bulla Bulling, 308 miles from the main storagereservoir and 1,290 feet above the lowest outlet-level of the latter. From the Bulla Bulling distributing-reservoir the water gravitates for 21 miles to the Coolgardie service-reservoir, and thence to the Kalgoorlie service-reservoir, a further 23 miles, the total length of the conduit from the supply reservoir being 351 miles (Figs. 4, Plate 1).

The first pumping-station is located on the right bank of the Helena River and 650 feet down-stream of the storage-reservoir. The pumps draw their water from a stand-pipe 4 feet in diameter, which is placed immediately in front of them and is fed by a 30-inch steel main, which, beginning at the outer valve-house passes under the boiler-house before entering the stand-pipe. The pumps here lift the water a net height of 415 feet, through 1 mile of pipe, and deliver it into a concrete receiving-tank having a capacity of 468,000 gallons and a depth of 15 feet of water.