USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > The town and city of Waterbury, Connecticut, from the aboriginal period to the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five. Volume II > Part 11
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The cost of the entire additional supply was as follows:
The purchase of Brown & Brothers' water system, $ 9,600
Lands, rights and cost of construction of Cooke street reservoir, 30,878
Lands, rights and cost of construction of Prospect reservoir, 21,573
Total,
$62,051
In 1883, the Prospect reservoir not having been completed in time to store water from the spring rains, and the drought of the summer having been unusually protracted, the supply was nearly exhausted by the middle of November. The engineers of the water works at once perfected a plan for pumping from Mad river directly into the large main pipe. The requisite buildings were erected and the machinery was put in and in working order within ten days. Pumping was continued as needed until May, 1884, when the reser- voirs were again full. The station, lands and buildings with pump, boiler and all connections, cost nearly $3500.
About this time the commissioners became fully aware.that the city had reached the hilltops, and that a higher service must be provided, that consumption had outgrown the capacity of the res- ervoirs, and that another and much larger source of supply must be sought. In 1867, when the water works were built, the population of Waterbury was less than 10,000; in 1880, it was 15,000, and in
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1890 about 30,000, a growth in population not anticipated by the most sanguine faith in the city's future. The commissioners reported their findings, the steadily increasing consumption, the inadequacy of the supply, etc., to the Common Council, and were authorized to make preliminary surveys and estimates of costs, with a view to ascertaining what could be done in the way of increasing the supply. Their engineers made said surveys and esti- mates, and the commissioners reported the results from time to time until 1889. At this time they were directed by the Common Council to make special surveys and estimates of the respective cost of each of the four sources of supply found to be available, namely, Hop brook, Lindley brook, Chestnut hill and Quassapaug lake. After thoroughly examining and duly considering the special advantages of each as to purity of water, storage capacity, facility and cost of construction, they unanimously recommended Hop brook, with Quassapaug lake as a sometime future addition if it should be needed. But the Common Council took no immediate action on their recommendations. The water supply in its best estate being insufficient for the requirements of the city, it became necessary, as a supplement to it, to resort again to pumping from Mad river. Pumping from the river into the mains, as needed to supply daily consumption, has been continued up to the present time.
Although the Hop brook source of supply had been unani- mously recommended by the commissioners, their decision was not regarded as final. A special committee was appointed by the Com- mon Council to make further investigations. The services of Rudolph Hering, C. E., were engaged, and under his direction elaborate surveys were made of all the various sources previously considered. On June 6, 1892, Mr. Hering presented a clear and noteworthy report, which was published and widely circulated. It left the Common Council divided, however, in regard to the best source of supply, and a discussion followed which was not termi- nated for several months. But at a meeting on March 6, 1893, Mr. R. A. Cairns, the city engineer, laid before them a communication in which he said :
During the past year the discussion has been upon the relative merits of certain sources of supply, commonly designated as the eastern or Wolcott source and the western or Watertown and Middlebury source. I desire to invite your attention to another and distinct source, which I will for convenience designate as the northern source.
The source indicated was the stream which empties into the Naugatuck on the west side at a point a little south of Reynolds
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
Bridge, commonly known as "the Branch." This proposal was received with great satisfaction by the Common Council, as it provided a way of escape from the serious difficulties which were recognized by one side or the other as inherent in the other places.
A few days later, the Common Council and the water commis- sioners visited the region to which their attention had been turned, and were so impressed in its favor that at a subsequent meeting the recommendation of the city engineer was adopted, and application was made to the legislature for authority to take water from this northern source and to issue the necessary water bonds. The bills were passed in April, 1893, and a special committee was appointed by the Council to carry forward the enterprise (known as the "Committee on an Additional Water Supply "), consisting of R. A. Cairns, city engineer, L. F. Burpee, city attorney, T. D. Barlow and E. B. Reiley, aldermen, Jay Hart, M. J. Daly, John Fitzpatrick and T. L. Sanford, councilmen, and Christian Hauser, F. B. Rice, H. L. Wade and J. W. Webster, who were not otherwise connected with the city government. Of this committee the chairman, ex-officio, was Mayor D. F. Webster, whose birthplace was near the head waters of the "Branch," who was thoroughly familiar with the entire region from which the water supply was to be derived, and who was specially fitted, for these and other reasons, to render practical ser- vice in the development of the enterprise. Under the direction of this special committee exact surveys were begun, and it was deter- mined to build works of so great magnitude that, with occasional additions to the storage capacity, the question of a water supply would be settled for many years to come. The plans adopted com- prised a masonry dam, eighty feet in height above the bed of the stream and about 600 feet long, with an earth dam to close a small side valley, together forming a reservoir covering an area of 105 acres, with a storage capacity of over 600 million gallons. From this reservoir, a conduit of cast iron pipe, thirty-six inches in diam- eter, was to extend to the corner of West Main and North Willow streets, a distance of almost exactly ten miles. It was decided, however, for the time being, to carry the dams only to a height suf- ficient to secure a storage capacity of 315 million gallons, but at the same time to build them of such proportions that they could at any time be carried to the full height for which they were designed. The estimate of the city engineer on these plans, exclusive of dam- ages for the diversion of water, was $750,000. The plans as submit- ted by the special committee were adopted by the Common Council, May Ist, 1893. Negotiations were afterward completed with owners
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THE WATER WORKS AND THE SEWERS.
of lands and buildings within the area of the reservoir and along the route of the pipe line; contracts were made with various parties for the masonry, the pipe and the laying of the pipe, and work upon the new enterprise was begun. At a meeting of the Water Supply Committee, September 4, 1894, the city engineer reported that seven miles of pipe line had been constructed, and that the work on the dam was making good progress.
At the time of beginning work on the northern supply-1893- the system of water-works consisted of four reservoirs, of an aggregate capacity of 185 million gallons, and a pumping station on Mad river with a pumping capacity of two million gallons per day, about forty miles of main and distribution pipe, 365 gates, and 264 fire-hydrants, of which 222 are owned by the city and forty-two by private individuals and corporations.
The pipes which were laid in the beginning were of wrought iron and cement, of which some are still in use; but the main has been relaid with cast-iron, and all extensions and relayings of the last few years have been with cast-iron pipes.
The annual rates for the use of water are made on the pro rata plan for families, and by metre for miscellaneous uses and large consumers. The following figures will afford some idea of the cost of the old system, and of present annual receipts :
Cost of the water system as now operated (December 31, 1893), including all extensions, $553,000.
Paid by issue of water bonds, 265,000.
Paid by the city treasurer, 288,000.
Receipts for water rents for the first year, 1868, 3,423.
Receipts for 1893,
78,699.
The water works are by charter under the management of a board of water commissioners, with a president who is also super- intendent, and is the only member of the board that receives any compensation. It is independent in matters of detail and general management of work and of finances, but the Court of Common Council is the referee and sole authority in all extensions, enlarge- ments of supply and appropriations. N. J. Welton was the first president. He was elected in 1867, as already noted, and has been president continuously from that date till the present time, with the exception of two years, when O. H. Stevens was president; but there was no change in the working of the system or the general management during this gentleman's term of office. The board being non-partisan, it has been able to utilize the advantages of long service in the same department, appropriating the knowledge
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
and skill gained by experience. This has resulted in making the water works not only self-supporting, but a source of revenue to the city.
The early struggle for the admittance of water into the city by the plan finally adopted was long; and it is fitting to recall the earn- est and untiring exertions for its success of Mayor Rockwell. His name should be recorded here in grateful remembrance. Mr. Stevens served as water commissioner, including two years as president, for twelve years, and much of the success of the man- agement during that time was due to the wise counsel and faith- ful services rendered by him. Captain D. B. Hamilton was a member of the water board for eighteen years. His thorough knowledge and intelligent views on all matters connected with the works have been of great value to his associates. W. W. Bonnett, C. E., the present efficient clerk, has held the position since 1873. ,
The officers of the board of water commissioners December 31, 1893, were as follows:
Nelson J. Welton, president.
Frederick B. Merriman, secretary.
David B. Hamilton, James A. Hynes, Frederick B. Merriman, George Panneton, board of water commissioners.
Messrs. Welton and Bonnett, engineers.
THE SEWERAGE SYSTEM.
The need of a system of sewerage in Waterbury was little felt in the primitive days of its history. It had natural facilities for good drainage-a varying but not too uneven surface, and an unusually porous and consequently dry soil. Besides, several rapid streams, especially swift when increased in volume by a recent rainfall, served as convenient conduits for accumulating surface water and whatever sewage was turned into them. As the popula- tion increased these streams were used for sewerage purposes to a much greater extent than was desirable for either comfort or health.
After the introduction of water into the city by the system known as the City Water Works, the question of sewerage became an important one, sanitary conditions obviously demanding some immediate action. The manifest needs of a continually increasing population and the necessity for municipal action in the matter were repeatedly urged upon the attention of the Court of Common
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Council. There was, however, no visible result until nearly ten years after the introduction of water into the city.
On February 12, 1877, the following vote was passed :
Voted, that the Court of Common Council of the city of Waterbury hereby petition and pray the General Assembly of this state for authority to issue bonds of the city to an amount not exceeding $100,000, for sewerage purposes.
The petition was granted by the legislature on March 22, subject to the approval of the legal voters of the city, but on June 20 the citizens rejected the act of the legislature, by a vote of 964 to 304. Nothing further was done until March 7, 1881, when the Common Council voted that Mayor Parsons and Aldermen Earl Smith and C. B. Webster, with Councilmen Thomas Fitzsimons and J. J. McDonald, be appointed a committee to confer with the city attor- ney, S. W. Kellogg, to recommend a suitable bill to provide a system of sewerage. A bill was presented to the legislature, and an act empowering the city to build and maintain sewers, and granting authority to issue bonds, not to exceed $100,000, for sewer- age purposes, was passed April 14, 1881, and became effective at that date. The act provided for a board of Sewer Commissioners, composed of the Mayor, the Road Commissioners, and two others to be elected by the Common Council. The first board of Sewer Com- missioners, organized April 19, 1882, consisted of Mayor Kendrick, president ex-officio, Earl Smith, Thomas Fitzsimons, Thomas Martin, George Tompkins, L. I. Munson and Samuel Atwater.
At the first meeting of the board, L. I. Munson and the street surveyor, N. J. Welton, were appointed a committee to secure such information in regard to sewerage systems in other cities as seemed desirable, and to confer with expert engineers with a view to obtaining a plan suited to meet the present and prospective require- ments of the city. Among those conferred with was Rudolph Hering of Philadelphia, an eminent civil and sanitary engineer, who spent several days with the street surveyor looking over the ground, examining its condition and noting various details. Mr. Hering presented a comprehensive plan, which was approved by the Commissioners, and by them recommended to the Common Council.
The plan considered primarily the location of the outfalls necessary for the dis- charge of the sewage. The stream formed by the confluence of the Naugatuck and Mad rivers was regarded as large enough to receive it at that time, without seri- ously affecting the towns below, but the probability was recognized that the city would in a few years be compelled to purify the sewage, and the open tracts of
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
land below the city were pointed out as well adapted for doing this by means of filtration.
The city is naturally divided by the Naugatuck and Mad rivers into three sec- tions: the Abrigador, "Brooklyn " and the city proper. Each of these districts was to have a separate outfall into the Naugatuck. The outfall of the Abrigador was to be below the junction of Mad river with the Naugatuck, although tempo- rary outfalls at different points along Mad river were considered practicable for present use. For the Brooklyn district a temporary outfall at the foot of Bank street was recommended, but when the discharge from this outfall into the pool above the Benedict & Burnham dam should become troublesome the outfall must be changed to some suitable point below the dam. The outfall for the city proper was located at the foot of Benedict street, with the understanding that in case of future trouble from the pollution of the pool above the Benedict & Burnham dam, an iron pipe should be sunk in the bed of the river and carried down through the dam, to convey the sewage to some favorable point below to discharge into the cur- rent of the stream.
The plan provided in the main for sewers according to the separate system, although in most cases such sizes were recommended as would accommodate part of the rain water, for the twofold purpose of relieving the streets and aiding in flushing the pipes. The minimum size advised for pipe sewers was eight inches in diameter, and the maximum eighteen inches, their shape to be circular. All sew- ers of larger size were to be built of brick, the minimum dimensions to be eighteen by twenty-seven inches, and their shape semicircular, or egg-shaped. In all places where practicable the sewers were to be laid below the level of cellars, and the grade was to be such as to give a mean velocity of three feet per second. Man- holes or lamp-holes in pipe sewers were to be placed from 150 to 200 feet apart and also at all changes of direction and grade; in brick sewers they were to be from 200 to 300 feet apart. Changes in the direction of pipe sewers were to be made wholly within man-holes, and in brick sewers by large curves in the line. Storm water not let into the sewers, or allowed to flow over the ground surface into brooks, was pro- vided for by underground channels and special culverts.
For pipe sewers, vitrified clay well glazed was recommended, and for the con- struction of brick sewers general directions were given, emphasizing the importance of smoothness of interior surface, the use of hard-burnt, regularly shaped brick, and cement sufficiently strong to ensure great hardness; and, should the ordinary self-cleaning process prove not sufficient, directions were given for artificial clean- ing by flushing.
The Common Council adopted the report of the Commissioners, and approved Mr. Hering's plan, September 18, 1882. By direction of the municipal board the street surveyor at once proceeded to make the necessary surveys, estimates and maps, with the proper drawings for main sewers, terminal chambers and such man-holes and catch-basins as would be required, and to draft proper specifi- cations and contracts for the building of the works. The work was prosecuted with all possible diligence and was ready for submission early in March, 1883. To avoid trouble from discharging sewage directly into the river at the foot of Benedict street, the quantity there being greater than from any other outfall, it had been decided
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THE WATER WORKS AND THE SEWERS.
to lay the cast iron pipe in the bed of the river, as proposed in Mr. Hering's plan, at the time the main sewers were built. Bids were opened April 12, 1883, and the contract for about two miles of brick sewers was awarded to William E. Dean of New York, and that for 600 linear feet of cast iron pipe, to be laid in the bed of the river, to Wellington & Madden of Waterbury. On April 28, following, N. J. Welton, street surveyor, was appointed engineer for the con- struction of the main and outfall sewers and all other sewers built during the year, and Mr. Hering consulting engineer. Mr. Welton was authorized to employ on the part of the city such other engi- neers as in his judgment were needed, and later secured the ser- vices of F. Floyd Weld, C. E., of New Haven, who proved a valuable acquisition to the engineering department.
The largest brick sewer, four feet and three inches by two feet and ten inches, was laid in Benedict street, at a depth of eighteen feet below the surface of the street. The terminal chamber at the foot of the street was one of the most important pieces of work done during the construction of the works. An overflow from it conveys all surplus water directly into the river, thereby diminishing the volume of drainage to be carried by the cast iron pipe to the outlet below the Benedict & Burnham dam. In Meadow and South Main streets, which cross Great brook, the sewers were necessarily built beneath the bed of the stream, and difficulties were encountered; in South Main street the stone arch over the brook had to be removed and replaced. At the corner of Willow and West Main streets a cut twenty-three feet deep was necessary. The work of building the main sewers and the various appurtenances therewith connected was commenced in May 1883, and completed in January 1884. The Common Council having directed the building of certain lateral pipe sewers, a contract for 3600 linear feet of vitrified pipe, with the necessary catch-basins, man-holes, etc., was made with Moses S. Austin of New Britain. The work was begun October 1, 1883, and completed at the end of the year.
The construction engineer, in his first annual report, urged upon the consideration of the Sewer Commissioners the necessity of positive and stringent rules regarding house-drainage, insisting on the employment of inspectors well instructed in sanitary law, and of licensed and bonded plumbers only, closing with the prediction that "any compromise in these matters will be felt, sooner or later, in a direful condition of sickness and mortality." Mr. Hering in his report on the completion of the main sewers expressed satis- faction with the work, and presented in a forcible manner the sub. ject of proper house-drainage, pointing out the measures and
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HISTORY OF, WATERBURY.
methods necessary to secure the benefits of a well constructed sewer system.
An act of the legislature amending the city charter so as to pro- vide for sewer assessments was passed March 20, 1884. The amend- ment directed the Common Council to obtain an estimate of the probable total cost of building sewers, main and laterals, in all the open and accepted streets of the city, to ascertain the actual total frontage in feet of all property upon said streets subject to assess- ment, and make a uniform assessment per linear foot of frontage of a fixed and determinate sum, which in the aggregate should not be less than two thirds of such cost. The street surveyor made the necessary surveys, estimates of probable cost, and total measure- ments of frontage, and reported to the Sewer Commissioners. On the basis of this report the Common Council fixed as the uniform assessment for sewer purposes the sum of one dollar and fifty cents per linear foot of frontage, for all persons owning property subject to assessment. The amendment of the charter further provided, that the Commissioners should appoint a city engineer, who should hold his office for a term of three years, and that after such appoint- ment had been made the office of street surveyor should terminate. Mr. F. Floyd Weld was appointed city engineer for three years from July 1, 1884, and at the expiration of that time was reap- pointed for a second term.
In 1884 a brick sewer was built through Scovill, Spring and Brown streets. The work was difficult, for it was necessary to pass under Great brook twice, and in the second instance to follow the course of the stream in a curve for some distance. The portable flushing-tank constructed that year was found to work well in con- nection with the stationary tanks already in use. In cleaning the sewers a deplorable state of misuse of them was revealed, and the enforcement of stringent regulations was urged upon the municipal authorities by the city engineer. In 1888 it was found to be neces- sary to build the intercepting sewer on River street, as provided for in Mr. Hering's plan. Four sewers were discharged into the shallow water of Mad river, causing a state of affairs wholly unde- sirable. This intercepting sewer was to convey all sewage then discharging into Mad river to an outfall into the Naugatuck. It was an expensive piece of work because it involved so large an amount of deep rock cutting. The cut at the corner of River and Washington streets was thirty-two feet in depth.
Although in all cases the sewers were built by contract, the work was carried on under the eye of thoroughly competent in- spectors employed in the interests of the city, and the fact that
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none has been rebuilt or repaired is evidence that the work was well done.
The city engineers make, and keep in their office, maps, pro- files and sketches of all sewer work. The record maps show the location, size, depth and house connections of each sewer. The assessment maps give the names of owners of property, all titles having been verified; also the frontage of property and depth to the rear.
A superintendent is employed, whose business it is to care for the entire sewerage system, including the inspection of house con- nections and the flushing and cleaning of sewers. Up to the pres- ent date, December 31, 1893, the sewers of Waterbury have been kept, usually, in excellent condition.
On June 17, 1890, Mr. Weld, who for six years had given intel- ligent, untiring and conscientious service to the duties of the office of city engineer, was stricken with a fatal illness, and died June 28. Frank W. Whitlock, C. E., who had been serving as assistant engineer, was appointed acting city engineer and took charge of the work until the end of the season. At this time the necessity of purifying sewage before its discharge into the Naugatuck was forced upon the attention of the Sewer commis- sioners by continual complaints from residents along the river below. During his term of service, Mr. Whitlock visited the city of Worcester, examined thoroughly the system of sewage puri- fication there, and made an exhaustive report to the Commis- sioners.
Robert A. Cairns, C. E., the present efficient city engineer, was appointed to the office December 4, 1890. During the year follow- ing, an unusual number of sewer extensions was made, and addi- tional information was gathered in regard to the important sub- ject of sewage disposal. With the increase of the population and the consequent increase in the volume of the sewage, complaints have become more numerous and more insistent, and the necessity of adopting new methods more evident. The indications are that a new epoch in the history of the sewerage system of Waterbury has already been entered upon.
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