USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1890 > Part 13
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By the completion of the railroad bridge on Central street we are now enabled to reach the stand-pipe via Broadway and Central street, as contemplated in the original plan, and the pumping via Cedar street has been discontinued.
The section of the city now covered by the high-water service embraces the following streets : -
Adams street, from Broadway, about 575 feet.
Albion street, from Central street, about 1,350 feet. Aldersey street.
Ames street.
Bartlett street.
Belmont street, from Highland avenue to Summer street. Benton avenue, from Highland avenue to Gibbens street. Bigelow street.
Boston street.
Brastow avenue.
Broadway, from Cedar street to School street.
Brooks street, from Main street to Heath street.
Central street, from Broadway to Summer street.
Chapel court.
Chestnut court.
Craigie street, from Summer street, about 850 feet.
Dartmouth street, from Broadway to Evergreen avenue.
Eastman place.
Elm court. Forster street.
Fremont street.
Gibbens street.
Grandview avenue.
Greenville street.
Harvard street, from Summer street to Beech street. High street.
Highland avenue, from Cedar street to Walnut street. Hillside park.
Hudson street, from Central street, about 125 feet.
240
ANNUAL REPORTS.
Lowell street, from Summer street to Brastow avenue.
Madison street.
Main street, from Broadway to Fremont street.
Montrose street.
Montrose court. Mountain avenue.
Munroe street.
Pleasant avenue.
Prospect Hill avenue.
Porter street, from Highland avenue to Summer street.
Robinson street.
Rustic avenue.
School street, from Highland avenue to Montrose street.
Spring street, from Summer street to Beech street.
Summer street, from Porter street to Central street. Summit avenue.
Sycamore street, from Broadway to Medford street. Sycamore street, from Highland avenue to Madison street.
Tennyson street, from Forster street, about 275 feet. Thurston street extension, from Broadway, about 80 feet.
Vinal avenue, from Highland avenue to Aldersey street. Walnut street, from Medford street to Bow street.
The system would have been extended farther had the condition of the pipe in other streets warranted its introduction, but the Board, having an insufficient amount of funds to do more than make a begin- ning of relaying the streets with suitable pipe, is obliged to confine the high pressure within the above limits, and recommends that an appropriation be made sufficiently large to enable the work to be carried to completion during the coming year.
The necessity of relaying Walnut street from Highland avenue to Columbus avenue and Sycamore street from Broadway to Med- ford street was found to be imperative to accommodate the high pressure, and these streets, with Forster and portions of Adams street and Boston street, comprise all the relaying that we have been able to do in high-service territory.
The Board is aware of a general feeling, in which it is also a sharer, that the high service is not yet what it ought to be nor what it was intended to be, and that, while it has benefited many, it has
241
REPORT OF WATER BOARD.
also been a source of trouble and discomfort to others, which can only be remedied by carrying the system to completion, thus forming the circuits and obtaining a circulation of water in the pipes.
As bearing upon this very important matter, we cannot do better than to submit for your consideration portions of a communication to this Board from City Engineer Eaton, which explains in a simple manner the origin of the difficulty which is the source of complaint from many of our citizens, and confirms the expressed opinion of the Board as to the necessity of an early appropriation to enable the original plan to be carried to fulfilment : -
" The distribution of the Somerville Water Works was designed as one system, and it has had to supply from one source and under one pressure, that due to the elevation of the Mystic Reservoir.
" Every part of the system is dependent on every other part, and we cannot add to or take from the whole any part without affecting the capacity of the whole. If we add to the present system, we in- crease the consumption and decrease the head ; if we take from it by separating a certain part, or, in other words, divide the system into a high and low service, we decrease the pressure in both systems, unless both systems are remodelled and the distribution rearranged to meet the new conditions. It is the division of the system into a high and low service that has affected the low-service supply, and it will never be remedied until the high-service distribution has been relaid, as recommended in the report to the special committee of the City Council.
" The effect of this division on the high and low service is thus explained : On the introduction of the high service as an independ- ent system it was necessary to gate the mains at the line which divides the high and low service. Under the new condition in these mains which are thus gated there is no circulation. The high-service water runs into the high-service mains until it reaches the gates, and the low-service water runs into the low-service main until it reaches the gate ; there both lines stop and make in both high and low ser- vice what are called dead ends. There will be dead ends on all mains which cross the line dividing the high and low service. The effect of these dead ends is to cause the water to become muddy or discolored from lack of circulation ; to decrease the pressure in the low service, and to reduce the quantity of water which can be supplied to both high and low service, for the following reason :
242
ANNUAL REPORTS.
the high and low service systems must of necessity be entirely independent of each other, as much so as if each system supplied a city entirely remote from the other. From a map of the high-service district, as recommended in the report of the special committee of the City Council, it can be readily seen that the high- service system separates from the low service a large area, and in this area are many mains which cross the city from north to south from the twenty-four-inch and thirty-inch supply mains, and act as feeders to maintain the pressure in the lower parts of the city, namely, Somerville avenue and Washington street, and the territory to the south to the Cambridge line. In this area also there are other mains in the streets which run east and west, namely, Summer street, Highland avenue, Medford street, and Broadway, which con- nect with mains running north and south and assist in maintaining the pressure. Now, by separating the high and low service, these mains above referred to are cut off and the assistance which they afforded in maintaining the pressure in the low service is lost.
"The effect of cutting off these mains will be evident if it is. noticed that when the high-service system is in operation the only mains which supply Union square and vicinity are the eight-inch main in Somerville avenue, which connects with the twelve-inch on Central street; the eight-inch on Washington street, which has a six- inch connection with the thirty-inch in Pearl street by way of Cross and Tufts streets ; and an eight-inch on Myrtle street, which connects with the thirty-inch on Pearl street. Whatever connection there may be with laterals would not be of any assistance, for any length of time, if a large supply of water was wanted in case of a large fire. So that practically the fire supply at Union square, at the present time, is what the eight-inch on Somerville avenue and Washington street will furnish, and must be a limited quantity.
"That the effect of separating the high and low service may be more apparent, it may be noticed that the eight-inch pipe on High- land avenue, the six-inch on Summer street, and the eight-inch on Medford street, all having a connection with the twelve-inch on Cen- tral street; and the four-inch on School street, the six-inch on Pres- cott street, the four-inch on Putnam street, the six-inch on Vinal avenue, the ten-inch on Walnut street, and the eight-inch on Boston street, all connecting with the mains that formerly supplied Union
243
REPORT OF WATER BOARD.
square before the high service was introduced, -have all been cut off from the low service.
"It should also be stated that the mains which run to the north between Somerville avenue and Summer street are supplied now only from Somerville avenue. The quantity of water which these mains now deliver is but one-half what it formerly was before the high service was introduced; and in case of a large demand for fire purposes, the head will be very materially reduced, as was evident at the recent fire on Belmont street at the house of Maurice Terry, when the pressure was not sufficient to throw one hydrant stream as high as the eaves of the house.
" The inadequacy of the supply is still more evident when it is noticed that of the fourteen streets leading to the north from Somer- ville avenue and Elm street, between Cedar street and Bow street, in only two streets are the mains more than four inches in diameter ; it is customary to use six-inch pipe for hydrant branches, and no through street should be laid with less than a six-inch pipe.
"For the same reasons, the high-service system on Winter Hill has reduced the capacity of the low-service mains."
We further quote from the communication of City Engineer Eaton the following estimate of the cost of carrying the high-service system to completion, his figures not including the relaying of the cement-piped laterals, a matter which will soon become necessary, even under the low pressure which is now upon them : -
"That the high-service system be operative and the full benefit of the present pumping plant may be obtained, the following changes in the present mains are necessary; the estimate submitted covering the cost of the completion of the system as recommended in the report of the special committee of the City Council :-
244
ANNUAL REPORTS.
ESTIMATED COST OF COMPLETION OF THE PROPOSED HIGH- SERVICE SYSTEM.
STREET.
FROM.
'To.
Size.
in feet.
Length Estimat'd. Cost.
Highland Avenue
Central Street
Walnut Street
12 in.
2,800
$6,000
Highland Avenue
Walnut Street .
Medford Street
12 in.
1,550
3,200
Summer Street
Central Street .
Union Square
10 in.
3,400
6,350
Cedar Street
Highland Avenue .
Elm Street
12 in.
1,800
3,800ยท
Elm Street
Cedar Street
Somerville Avenue .
12 in.
1,500
3,550
Somerville Avenue
Elm Street
Union Square
12 in.
4,400
9,400.
Central Street
Highland Avenue .
Summer Street
12 in.
2,100
4,400
School Street .
Highland Avenue .
Somerville Avenue .
12 in.
2,000
4,250
Prospect Hill Avenue
Medford Street
Munroe Street
10 in.
500
650
Broadway
Central Street .
School Street .
12 in.
1,350
2,900
Medford Street
Lowell Street
Broadway
12 in.
400
800
School Street .
Broadway
Richdale Avenue
10 in.
1,750
3,050
Richdale Avenue
School Street
Sycamore Street .
10 in.
950
1,700
Pembroke Street
Sycamore Street
Central Street
10 in.
760
1,120
Vernon Street
Central Street
Lowell Street .
10 in
1,400
2,450
Lowell Street
Vernon Street
Medford Street
12 in.
1,300
2,850
Medford Street
Lowell Street
School Street
8 in.
3.100
4,150
$60,620
Add 10 per cent. for contingencies
6,062
$66,682
Medford Street
Highland Avenue .
Prospect Hill Avenue
245
REPORT OF WATER BOARD.
"In addition to the foregoing estimate, the following is respect- fully submitted : -
STREET.
FROM.
To.
Size.
Length Estimat'd in feet.
Cost.
Lowell Street .
Vernon Street
Somerville Avenue
12 in.
3,700
$8,700
Summer Street
Cedar Street
Central Street
10 in.
2,550
4,050
Albion Street
Cedar Street
Central Street
8 in.
2,700
3,900
$16.650
Add 10 per cent. for contingencies
1,665
$18.315
" It is intended that the proposed twelve-inch on Lowell street shall be used as a second force main in case of an accident to the four- teen-inch, and as a supplementary force main when the consumption increases beyond the capacity of the fourteen-inch force main.
" The above estimates cover the cost of setting new hydrants, but do not include the cost of making changes in the house services from the low to the high service, nor for relaying the cement pipe."
STAND-PIPE.
The stand-pipe has recently been recaulked and painted, and the grounds about the same have been brought to grade, walks laid out and concreted, and the lot enclosed with a substantial fence, all under the direction of the City Engineer.
PUMPING STATION.
The pumping station is in excellent condition, but the grounds about the building should be filled in and graded so as to present a more favorable comparison with the structure upon them.
The Board considered plans for a coal-shed to be constructed near the station, but it was finally decided to make use of a tempo- rary arrangement, as there was a unanimity of feeling in the Board
246
ANNUAL REPORTS.
that the shop and yard of the works should be located at the pump- ing station lot, and the property on Prospect street, which is poorly arranged and fitted for so extensive a business as is now done, should be sold or devoted to other purposes for which it is more valuable ; and the Board would recommend the early erection of a brick building adjoining the pumping station, to be constructed for the acommodation of fuel and to contain suitable apartments for the horses, wagons, tools, etc., a workshop and a room for tarring and lining the pipe used for services.
The Board also recommends the early purchase of a second boiler and connections, so that the service may not be interrupted in case of a disabling injury or necessity of repairs in the boiler now in use.
CONSTRUCTION.
Perhaps nothing is more indicative of the growth of the city than the demand which is made upon the Board for the construction of mains in new streets which are being rapidly opened up for settle- ment and the extensions of the pipes into territory hitherto unoccu- pied. In this respect, also, the year 1890 is a notable one in the history of the water works in this city, for in no other year has there been such a call for new pipe; and while the Board has weighed carefully every such request, and looked conservatively at the matter of construction, we have found that in every case the interests of the city would be served by granting the requests of the petitioners, and by the favorable action of the City Council in increasing the appro- priation we have been enabled to do so in nearly every instance.
One has only to drive through the streets of this city and witness the transformation of former large estates and farming districts into streets and house lots, which are being rapidly taken up and occupied, to realize that for the next few years the city's account for " Extension of the Water Works" will be a large and important item, and a matter which should be regarded in a broad light and met in a liberal spirit by coming City Councils.
We have frequent occasion to realize that the pipe laid in pre- vious years was insufficient in size, and was put in rather for present need than in anticipation of the city's growth; but it must now be evident that we are to be a populous city, and, moreover, that certain localities are destined to become manufacturing centres in the future,
247
REPORT OF WATER BOARD.
and that property adjacent to railroads and along the water front will be occupied by large buildings. Large mains will be required in these- localities to furnish sufficient fire protection. If larger pipes are laid, it will be done in keeping with the practice in all other suburban cities, as they are remodelling their distribution and relaying with larger mains.
HYDRANTS.
Abundant fire protection in a city growing under the conditions of our own is a matter of paramount importance. To secure this an abundance of fire hydrants is necessary, and, while a larger number have been set during the past season than in any previous year, the Board would recommend that a special annual appropriation be made for the purpose of covering our territory with these appliances as numerously as the needs of the districts may require.
MAINTENANCE.
Of the maintenance of the works much may be said, and while the Board is not unmindful of the fact that certain recommendations have in the past been made to the City Council, we should feel derelict in our duty if we did not again bring them before your atten- tion and urge their speedy adoption.
It is not the first time that a water board has brought to the notice of the City Council the fact that a very large part of the pipe which is now conveying water through our streets is of the old cement-lined, contract-made kind, which was understood when laid to be serviceable for only five years, but some of which has now been in use for twenty-two years. We have rapidly increasing evidences every year, however, that this pipe has outlived its usefulness. These evidences are not confined to any one locality, but come to us from all sections of the city where the pipe is laid; and the breaks upon it have been so numerous during the year now closing, and the drain upon the maintenance appropriation for repairs, that are but tem- porary at best, is so large and so constant, that the Board can but feel it to be in every way for the interests of the city to make an appropriation for the speedy removal of all the cement pipe within its borders and the substitution therefor of cast-iron pipe. The first
248
ANNUAL REPORTS.
cost of making this change would be large, but the interest on the amount required would not much exceed the cost of repairs on the old pipe, compensation for damages, etc., to say nothing of the grave responsibilities of the city in case of fire, at which time the consequences of a broken main might prove very disastrous.
The Board is convinced that the safety limit of the cement pipe as a whole has already been reached, and that in its present condition it is a standing menace to our city.
The breaks in the pipe at the westerly end of Somerville avenue became so numerous that it was found necessary to relay that por- tion from the junction of Elm street to Mossland street with iron pipe.
The section of the city from Davis square to Church street is now supplied by a six-inch cement pipe, and the Board feels that this is altogether too small to supply the needs of that territory at the present day, and especially to furnish adequate fire protection. This pipe should be replaced with a twelve-inch iron pipe, as should also its feeder in Cedar street, from Elm street to Highland avenue. This portion of the city would then have an ample supply for domes- tic and fire purposes, and the circulation over a much larger territory would be benefited thereby.
Another feeding and distributing main of great importance is the one in Washington street, from Myrtle street to Union square. This should also be replaced at once with a sixteen-inch iron pipe to secure a proper degree of safety for this part of the city. In very many streets where it will be found necessary to remove cement pipe, the iron pipe to be substituted therefor should be of a larger size, to properly supply the present increase in population as well as in antici- pation of the city's future growth. The population has increased from 9,353 in 1865, about the year the water was introduced, to 43,000 in 1890, nearly five times as large as in 1865; yet the distri- bution is planned on the same scale as in 1871. The city is destined to grow in a much larger ratio in the next thirty years than the last ; and it may not be too high an estimate to make that in the next thirty years the population may increase to 140,000.
It has been carefully estimated on the basis of population in the thickly settled eastern portion of our city that the territory within our limits will comfortably contain about 180,000 inhabitants, and in the laying out of permanent works, as are those connected with the
249
REPORT OF WATER BOARD.
water supply, a constantly increasing and, before the lapse of many years, a very large population should be anticipated.
As cast-iron water pipe has been used for fifty years and at the end of that time has been found to be in good condition, it will cer- tainly be proper that this city should provide for the future wants of the people more liberally than in the past.
Altogether, a large sum of money can be judiciously expended in the maintenance of the works at the present day, but the work being once and properly done, the necessity for further expenditure would be reduced to a minimum.
Attention has also been called, and we wish to renew it, to the fact that the City of Cambridge has a large amount of pipe in our streets which we could replace with our own at a cost of not over $10,000, and which would yield us a revenue of about $2,500 per year, or enough in four years to pay the entire cost of making the change and bring us in handsome returns annually thereafter. We regard the extension of all pipe as a paying investment, and looking at this particular matter from a purely business standpoint, we con- sider the opportunity a most favorable one, and would therefore urge, for the city's benefit, the advisability of an appropriation for this purpose the coming year.
SERVICES.
The applications for service pipes have largely exceeded any pre- vious year, the number laid in 1890 being 562.
MYSTIC WATER WORKS.
The extension and completion of the high-service system will probably largely increase the daily average consumption, and will, undoubtedly, in a short time, severely tax the storage capacity of the tank on Spring Hill. It will be found that it will soon be necessary to run the pump for the larger part of the day to maintain the pres- sure in the mains. This extra work at the pumping station will increase the cost of pumping and the wear and tear on the pumping plant; and it will be but a short time before the additional cost of pumping will amount to more than the interest on the cost of a new tank. A matter, therefore, which must receive early consideration is that of an additional stand-pipe for the high-service system. This
250
ANNUAL REPORTS.
second stand-pipe was provided for in the original plan of the high- service system, its location to be on the summit of Winter Hill. "This, however, does not satisfactorily settle the problem which must sooner or later present itself, viz., supplying all sections of the city with the high pressure. The Board has considered this matter to some extent, and feels that the City of Boston now holds the key to the simplest solution of the matter in its possession of the plant of the Mystic Water Works.
If this city owned the Mystic plant, a stand-pipe could be con- structed on the reservoir grounds at College Hill, of sufficient size to furnish the entire western, northern, and eastern portions of the city with the high pressure, the present pumping plant taking care of the central and southern sections.
The stand-pipe could be supplied by the equipment which is now in the Mystic pumping station, and about the only expense necessary to be incurred would be the construction of the stand-pipe and a force main from the pump to the reservoir.
The Board would recommend that the next City Council take active steps toward the acquisition by the City of Somerville of the Mystic Water Works, believing that the interests of the City of Bos- ton in the same at the present time are such that a change of owner- ship could be made on favorable terms.
We firmly believe it to be for the interest of this city to obtain control of this system of water supply, if possible.
Charlestown being now connected with the Cochituate system, Somerville, Chelsea, and Everett will soon be the only takers of the Mystic supply, and Boston's interest in what is to them practically an outside affair cannot reasonably be expected to be very great. The system is one, however, in which Somerville should take a very active interest, this being its only available source of water supply, and for this reason, if no other, steps should be taken toward pro- tection* from possibilities of a waning interest in our sister city. Mystic Lake being fed by springs, the water is naturally pure, and it is expected that when the Metropolitan sewer is completed, and the drainage from the towns now bordering upon the lake is thus dis- posed of, the quality of the water will be much improved, and, with a reasonable degree of effort, further pollution can be checked.
As an investment, moreover, we should very favorably regard the purchase of the works, if a satisfactory arrangement could be
251
REPORT OF WATER BOARD.
made. The amounts paid for water during the last year were as follows : -
Somerville
$100,283 16
Chelsea .
73,076 58
Everett
19,886 20
A total of .
$193,245 94
Under the terms of the present contract a rebate would be made to.
Chelsea
$36,538 29
Everett
9,943 10
$46,481 39
leaving, on this basis, an income of $146,764.55 if the works were operated by the City of Somerville, or, deducting operating expenses, the net profits would be nearly, if not quite, double our present in- come under our contract with Boston. It is safe to say, also, that the expenses of maintaining the works could be very materially re- duced from the amount charged to this account by the City of Boston.
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