Oamaru Water Race ( North Otago ) Traditional Cache
Oamaru Water Race ( North Otago )
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Park and Grab this cache is by the old Oamaru Water Race
Known locally as the Borough Race, this system was constructed to supply Oamaru with extensively reticulated potable drinking water, water for firefighting, as well as 300 ‘spare horsepower.’
It was designed by Donald McLeod (1835-?) and constructed over the three years prior to its opening 1880. Before it was completed the main water supply for Oamaru was a stream running through the town.
Water for the new system was sourced from the Waitaki River and conveyed by open race to Oamaru over a distance of nearly 50 kilometres (km). Included in the system was an intake structure, a stilling pond, 19 aqueducts and 6 tunnels, all of which meant that the scheme was extremely expensive for the local Council at £136,000.
The water was delivered to the town from an open reservoir at approximately 100 metres above sea level through a network of 600 millimetre (mm) and 450mm cast iron pipes made by important Christchurch firm, Andersons.
The ‘spare horsepower’ was put to very good use, powering water motors, water engines and turbines, and allowing Oamaru to be substantially hydraulically powered for decades. In 1916 the Borough Council installed an Pelton wheel driven alternating current (AC) generating plant with a 1 km wooden penstock feed off the 600mm mains. As such, Oamaru became possibly the fourth town in New Zealand to have reticulated AC and possibly the first town in the world to have reticulated AC power derived from its drinking water supply.
Notably the race functioned for 103 years and many of its components are still extant, or can be traced.
The cache is a 200ml container - Bring Own Pen
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Cbfg
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