USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1886 > Part 9
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WM. A. DRAKE, Chairman.
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REPORT ON THE SEWERAGE 1 OF
WEYMOUTH, MASS., 1887.
BY C. W. FOLSOM, C. E.
19 BERKELEY STREET, CAMBRIDGE, MASS., January 12, 1887.
To the Committee on Drainage of the Town of Weymouth :
GENTLEMEN, - I have the honor to submit herewith a preliminary report and sketch maps bearing on the question of sewerage for the town of Weymouth, Mass.
This report is mostly based on simply an eye-view of the town, and with very few instrumental data (the expense of which pre- vented their use at this time). Consequently, it is quite possible that an instrumental survey might change some small matters of detail ; but the general features of the town are so well marked that the considerations given in this report would not be materially altered.
Before proceeding to a detailed view of the town, I wish to make some remarks on the subject of sewerage in general.
Sewerage must not be considered as a blessing, but rather as a choice of evils. That town is happiest which requires least of it.
The accumulation of effete matter in privies works well enough in a thinly settled farming neighborhood. The contents can be spread upon the land. As population becomes more dense, the citizens introduce water and water-closets. For a time the dis- charge from these can be disposed of by private cesspools on each man's land ; and, where there is plenty of land, this works well for years. Finally, as the ground becomes saturated from the cess- pools, we are led to introduce sewers. But, unfortunately, nine towns out of ten have no deep-ocean currents flowing by their doors. Consequently, they have to discharge their sewers into fresh-water brooks, or into small arms of the sea, where the sew- age is liable to be held in a sluggish current, and deposited, more or less, on the banks, or in shoal water over flats, where it is quite sure to cause offence in time.
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This can be seen in this neighborhood by examining the sewer outlets in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Dorchester, Lynn, and other cities and villages near here, and inquiring into the history of their building and use. The introduction of water into any of these towns dates back from thirty to forty years, before which time sewers were practically unknown there.
Their present condition shows that in many cases the building of sewers is a progressive matter, that is to say, the offensive matter has to be pushed farther away from the habitations of man as time rolls on.
Boston has lengthened her outlets from time to time, but as that failed to remedy the nuisance, she has finally carried everything, at great expense, to the lower end of her harbor, at Moon Island. Cambridge and Somerville have suffered, and are suffering greatly from outlets too near home, and will probably have to join Boston in her extensions, and share her expense, or else go to greater ex- pense by themselves. Lynn and Chelsea are extending their out- lets farther to sea, or ought to be doing so. (On this subject see the " Report of the Massachusetts Drainage Commission," of 1886, which contains very many facts of interest to a town situated like yours. )
This is not mentioned in the way of discouragement to your own or any town ; but only to impress on you, first, the importance of starting right, so that you can increase and extend your sewers without building them over again ; and secondly, the fact that sew- erage is a thing that can never be finished, but must increase and extend steadily in any town that increases its population and ex- tends its settled area.
In view of these facts, I consider it desirable for the town of Weymouth, or any town similarly situated,-especially one which is not in any way committed to a system, but has a clear field open to its choice,-to avoid taking in any street water, wash from street gutters, rain water from rain spouts, or even (if it can be easily avoided) water from wet cellars.
The reason for this is that the rainfall over any given area, or even that portion of the rainfall which is liable to reach the sewers from the streets, is probably from fifty to one hundred times as much in quantity as the liquid which can come from the house sinks and water-closets on the same area, even if we suppose the area to be densely populated.
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The figures to show this (as to rainfall, house supply, and so forth) would occupy too much space for this report; but there is little or no difference of opinion on the main fact, although differ- ent engineers might use slightly different proportions.
The proportion of one hundred to one has been used in the cities of Lowell and of Boston, as a basis for computing the size of sew- ers to receive both kinds of liquid.
This being the case, it is evident that sewers to carry off both storm-water and house sewage must have many times the ca- pacity of those which are sufficient for house sewage alone. Not only will the first-named be much more expensive to build ; but in case the town is forced to pump up or filter their sewage, or to adopt any of the protections which modern sanitary science de- mands against pollution of the air and water, the quantity of water to be dealt with, will be increased from fifty to one hundred fold, and the expense greatly increased, though not in strict proportion.
The street water now goes, and always has gone somewhere, in channels which nature provided. These channels may be some- times interfered with by private constructions, or public improve- ments ; but a careful watch to protect the natural outlets will be much cheaper than an elaborate system of expensive sewers, to carry street water where it will only dilute the house sewage in manifold degree, and probably have to be filtered, or chemically treated, or pumped up with the other at no distant day ; thus vastly increasing the expense.
To come to particulars for the town of Weymouth.
Your town has four separate villages, 1, North Weymouth ; 2, Weymouth Landing ; 3, East Weymouth ; 4, South Weymouth ; the sewerage of which at present must be treated separately ; and it will probably be generations before these settlements will approach so near each other as to bring together their sewers.
The only exception to this may possibly be found in case it should ever be decided to carry the sewage of South Weymouth to the sea, in which case a sewer for that purpose would naturally pass through East Weymouth, and would be connected with the sewers there. The discussion of this matter will be found under the head of South Weymouth.
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I. NORTH WEYMOUTH.
At North Weymouth the conditions are different from either those at Weymouth Landing or East Weymouth, insomuch as there is no one point to which all sewage can be carried.
At first sight there would seem to be three points to which the sewage would have to be carried : one at or near " Mill Cove," near the southwest angle in Pearl Street; one at the extreme northeast corner of the village, near Neck Street ; and a third at the southeast corner of the village near the culvert on North Street.
But a careful examination has led me to omit the third-named of these, and to make an effort to concentrate the sewage at two of these points only ; that is to say, at Mill Cove, and at the northeast end of Neck Street.
The following statement roughly indicates the proposed course of drainage of each street in the village : -
(a) Streets draining into Mill Cove.
The north part of Pearl Street and south part of Athens Street are to drain into the west part of Sea Street.
The north part of Athens Street and northwest end of Sea Street to drain into Bridge Street.
And Bridge Street into the west part of Sea Street.
Sea Street to drain through land of T. Bicknell (near the shoe shop at the corner of Bridge and Sea Streets), and through land of Edwards, into Mill Cove.
(b) Streets draining into Weymouth Back River.
The east part of Sea Street is to drain into North Street.
North Street to drain into Curtis Street.
Curtis, Shaw, and Lincoln Streets, the east part of Bridge Street, and the part of Bridge Street running from Lovell to Neck Street to drain into Neck Street.
And Neck Street to drain into Weymouth Back River.
This makes no provision for the small part of North Street, from the corner of Neck Street to the culvert, some two hundred yards south of that point ; but the amount of sewage from that part of North Street would be too small to make a nuisance if entered into the brook below the culvert.
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II. WEYMOUTH LANDING.
As will be seen from an inspection of the map, almost the whole of the village of Weymouth Landing (and probably all that will need sewers) can be drained to a common point or focus on Smelt Brook where it is crossed by Washington Street.
(c) Streets draining into Smelt Brook.
Summer Street and Hunt Street will drain into Front Street, and Front Street into Washington Street.
Parts of Franklin Street, Common Street and Stetson Street, and the western part of Broad Street, are too low to drain either into Front or Washington Street direct, and would have to be carried by a separate sewer along the valley of the small brook, from the Grammar School on Broad Street to a point on Washington Street near Prospect.
Congress Street, King Avenue, and Torrey's Lane, and also the part of Washington Street above Torrey's Lane, naturally drain over into a brook to the eastward, but can be carried down Washington Street, by a not very heavy cut on that street, at its intersection with Torrey's Lane and Hunt Street.
Vine Street, a part of Common Street, Broad Street from Vine to Washington, Phillips Street and Richmond Street, will all drain into Washington Street. Vine Street, however, would probably have to be drained through the fields, or through a new street cut through private land, near the brook.
The south parts of Keith and Tremont Streets, Norfolk Street, and the western half of Prospect Street will all drain into Wash- ington Street, through Prospect Street.
Granite Street, the eastern part of Prospect Street, the north parts of Keith Street and Tremont Street will all drain through Tre- mont and a part of Commercial Street, into Washington Street.
Washington Street, therefore, in addition to its own sewage, will sooner or later receive that of all the above-named streets.
To discharge all this sewage directly into Smelt Brook at the crossing of Washington Street would undoubtedly soon occasion a palpable nuisance.
I should, therefore, recommend that a trunk sewer be continued from there down the easterly bank of Smelt Brook (or, perhaps, crossing it twice at the upper end, to avoid cutting), passing under the railroad west of the depot, and through the lumber and coal
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yards, to the lumber yards of J. B. Rhines (marked on the "At- las " map " E. A. Gardner & Co.").
Here it could be discharged into the thread of the channel through a submerged pipe.
But if discharged here at all times of tide, that portion dis- charged at low tide and on the flood would be carried up by the flood tide as far as the tide extends, and would create a decided nuisance'so near human habitations.
I will therefore recommend a careful study of arrangements by which the sewage would be stored in a tank or cistern, at Rhines's lumber yard, and only let out for a period of three or four hours after high water ; being very much the same system on a small scale as is now pursued on a large scale by the city of Boston at Moon Island.
The trunk sewer from Washington Street down to Rhines's would receive the sewage from parts of Commercial Street and its neighborhood on the way.
The sewage, from that part of the town of Braintree which nat- urally drains into Smelt Brook might also be received at the cross- ing of Washington Street, and disposed of by the town of Wey- mouth in connection with their own, more cheaply than the town of Braintree could do it by an independent outlet. The size of the sewer from Washington Street to Rhines's would only need to be slightly increased ; and the nuisance to both towns oc- casioned by another outlet on the Braintree side of the river would be avoided.
III. EAST WEYMOUTH.
The natural formation at East Weymouth is not unlike that at Weymouth Landing, except that there are two principal focuses or points of discharge; both on Weymouth Back River, below the railroad - one on the west side of that river, the other on the east side.
Taking up, first, -
(d) The west part of the village, we find that
The north end of Charles Street will drain into Middle Street.
Middle Street, Cain Street, and a part of Madison Street will drain into Broad Street.
Broad Street will drain into the field to the east of the brook
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near Madison Street, and will follow the general course of the brook to Commercial Street.
Part of Commercial Street and part of Madison Street will drain into this main or trunk sewer, where it crosses Commercial Street.
From Commercial Street this trunk sewer follows the east side of the brook, crossing East Street.
After crossing East Street, it should cross the brook ; going under the coal shed and the Old Colony Railroad to the west of a small pond of water ; thence skirting the base of the knoll, keeping on hard ground, across land of J. P. Lovell, passing near the Boat House and the Marine Railway, to a point nearly opposite the out- let of the sewer from the east part of the village.
Taking up now,
(c) The east part of the village, we find that
Hawthorne Street, Cedar Street, and a part of Grant Street will drain into High Street.
Part of Grove Street will drain into Myrtle Street and School Street, and part of Pleasant Street will drain into Water Street.
A small portion of Lake Street will drain into Shawmut Street ; and part of Shawmut Street and part of Grove Street into Pleasant Street.
Part of Cottage Street, part of Shawmut Street, and part of Pleasant Street will drain into Broad Street.
Part of Cottage Street and part of Broad Street will drain into Commercial Street ; as will also Water Street, High Street, Hill Street, and part of Grant Street.
Commercial Street will drain into a private way passing under the railroad bridge, and passing through the land of the Weymouth Iron Company ; and thence across a portion of the marsh to Wey- mouth Back River, at a point nearly opposite the outlet of the sewer from the west part of the village.
IV. SOUTH WEYMOUTH.
At South Weymouth the conditions are similar to those of the North Village, in that it is impracticable to carry the sewage to any one point.
. Most of it would naturally converge at two principal points ; namely, that from the north part of the village at a point on Park Avenue, about a hundred yards west of Pleasant Street ; and that
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from the south part of the village at a point near the corner of Pond and Hollis Streets, or near the station of the Old Colony Railroad.
But the conditions differ from those at North Weymouth in this, that there are no tidal currents to receive the sewage and bear it off quickly to deep water. If so large a quantity of sewage were emptied into the small brook at the above points, - leading at the north end of the village into Whitman's Pond Brook, and at the south end into Mill River, - it would create a nuisance at once along the valleys of the small brooks, and after a brief time would seriously contaminate the larger streams and their banks.
To carry the whole of the sewage of South Weymouth to the sea presents a double difficulty.
First. The only route offering a practicable chance is by the way of Pleasant Street to East Weymouth.
This would take the sewage from the north part of the village (i. e., that which converges to near the corner of Park Avenue and Pleasant Street) without difficulty ; but to take that from the south end of the village (i. e., the part naturally converging to the neigh- borhood of the railroad station). to East Weymouth would require pumping up, or a very deep cut, to get it over or through the divid- ing ridge which separates the waters of Mill River from those of Whitman's Pond Brook.
Second. Even supposing the sewage of South Weymouth could all be concentrated near the intersection of Park Avenue and Pleasant Street, for a start to the sea, the way is long and difficult.
I have estimated the distance from the corner of Park Avenue and Pleasant Street in South Weymouth to the corner of Pleasant Street and Cemetery Lane in East Weymouth, as it is shown on the map of the town, as about thirteen thousand three hundred and fifty feet, or a trifle over two and a half miles.
This represents the extra length of sewer which must be built to carry the sewage of South Weymouth to the sea.
If we assume the future population of South Weymouth at 10,- 000, and their water supply at 500,000 gallons per day, an eight- inch pipe, with a descent of one foot in' five hundred, or ten and a quarter feet to the mile, would be ample to carry off all that part of the water supply that could ever reach the sewers.
(And it is probable that no flatter grade than that need be en- countered between South Weymouth and East Weymouth.)
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But as the descent would vary somewhat, I should recommend using eight-inch, ten-inch, and twelve-inch pipe in different parts of the course, according to the slope ; the smaller pipe in the steeper slopes. and vice versa.
It is impracticable to make an exact estimate of the cost, with- out detailed surveys ; but I think it would not be safe to count on less than $1.00 per running foot for the whole distance, or $13,350 in all ; and it might go as high as $1.50 per running foot, or $20,- . 025 in all ; as the deepest cutting would probably be not less than from fifteen to twenty feet (say eighteen feet, a part of which would be rock) ; and it would require some iron pipe at the cross- ing of the streams.
The cost of the pipe is not the most important factor in the whole cost. The three sizes mentioned cost, in quantities, the last year :
8-inch pipe cost 18 cents per foot.
10-inch pipe cost 28 cents per foot.
12-inch pipe cost 36 cents per foot.
The cost of digging the trench, blasting the rock, and laying the pipe, which are the principal items, does not vary much whether the pipe be large or small.
I shall therefore assume $16,000, for present purposes, as the cost of an independent line of pipe from South Weymouth to the sea. And we shall see, I think, that some cheaper expedient can be found, when I come to the details of South Weymouth.
Taking up now,
(f) The north part of the village.
A short portion of Columbian Street will drain into Main Street, and Main Street into Park Avenue.
A portion of White Street will drain into Union Street.
A portion of Union Street will drain through the field of W. Blanchard into Pleasant Street.
Perhaps White Street and all of Union Street could be carried into Pleasant Street and drained the other way : this would save crossing private land, and could be determined by careful levelling.
The portions of Pleasant Street immediately west and east of Park Street will drain through land formerly owned by E. Reed and Mrs. J. Torrey, to Park Avenue ; keeping on firm ground west of a small brook, and crossing a small brook, near Park Avenue.
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Portions of Pleasant Street, east and west of Park Avenue, will drain into Park Avenue.
The part of Main Street next north of Park Avenue, and the southerly part of Front Street, will drain into Park Avenue.
Park Avenue will drain across land of J. Martin, to the pro- posed outlet, where it is proposed to have a " sewage farm "; or, in other words, to purify the sewage by filtration.
(g) South part of the village.
A portion of Union, Torrey, Columbian, Rockland, and Main Streets will drain into Pleasant Street.
A portion of MainStreet, south of the junction of Pleasant Street, will drain across land of heirs of N. Thayer, into Pond Street. Also, Pleasant Street will drain into Pond Street.
Pond Street will drain into a trunk sewer which will cross lands of Gen. J. L. Bates, Mr. A. Tirrell, Mrs. B. Tirrell, Mr. James Tirrell, and Mr. A. Tirrell, to a point west of the cemetery ; emptying on to a portion of the lands owned by H. Tirrell, James Tirrell, and Q. Reed, which are proposed to be utilized as a " sew- age farm," or for purposes of filtration.
GENERAL REMARKS ON SOUTH WEYMOUTH.
I have used the term " sewage farm " as the most familiar one ; but the term " filtration area," perhaps, better expresses the object.
A full account of the process of purification of sewage by filtra- tion will be found in the report of the Massachusetts Drainage Commission of 1886, Section 97, pages 124 to 128.
The method can be seen in operation at the State prison in Con- cord, and also at the town of Medfield, where it was put in opera- tion the last autumn, partly under the direction of the subscriber.
It seems as if this method, from its comparative cheapness, was destined to be the principal resource of our inland towns ; and it seems as if South Weymouth had a very favorable opportunity to try it.
I should recommend purchasing a tract, say of five acres, of land in each of the places in the outskirts of South Weymouth that I have designated, which I think would be ample for many years to. come.
Only one or two acres of this, however, need be prepared for use at first.
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I should estimate the cost of preparing the land (some grading would be needed), with necessary fixtures and such extra pipe as may be needed, at not over $2,000 at each place ; or a total of $4,000 (besides the cost of the land), as against the estimate of $16,000 for carrying the sewage to the sea.
The cost of the land can be more closely estimated by your hon- orable body than by myself; but I presume it would not exceed $1,000.
I understand that some dissatisfaction has been felt at South Weymouth with wet cellars; and that the citizens there would be glad to seek relief from that evil by any system of sewers that might be devised.
As I have before stated (page 175), I consider it desirable to limit the liquid matter to be disposed of by sewers, if possible, strictly to house drainage. Probably, many or most of the wet cellars in South Weymouth could be cured by a system of porous drain tiles of small section (say three inches in diameter), leading from the floor of the cellar to the back of the estate, or to the street, as the case might be. If all were treated in this way that could be, I do not think there would be any objection to taking the rest into the sewers, as the quantity of water would be quite small.
GENERAL SUMMARY FOR THE TOWN OF WEYMOUTH.
By examining the above detailed remarks it will be seen that I recommend for present purposes seven outlets or principal points cf discharge in all, viz. : In North Weymouth, 2 ; Weymouth Landing, 1 ; East Weymouth, 2; South Weymouth, 2; of which five are di- rectly into the sea, and two upon gravel areas for filtration.
It is possible that after some time the open outlets into the sea might cause nuisance; in which case it would probably not be impracticable to provide a filtering area for each one ; but this contingency seems too remote to warrant consideration just now.
We now come to the question of cost. Of course to put sewers in every street in Weymouth, even in the villages alone, would involve a length of some twenty miles of sewers, and a very large outlay, say from one to two hundred thousand dollars.
But no one expects that that will be called for or be done in this generation ; and I have thought it unnecessary to make any detaile otal estimate.
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To facilitate rough estimates, however, for such cases as may arise from time to time, I have prepared the following approximate tables, which give roughly the length of the sewered part of each street as shown on the plans (taken off the maps by scale), with the size of the pipe that might be reasonably expected to be used.
I have considered it wise generally to use eight-inch pipe for the shorter and upper streets, and twelve-inch pipe (or even larger) for the longer and lower ones. This is on the supposition that six- inch drainage pipes are laid from the houses to the sewers.
But by restricting the size of the house pipes to four inches or five inches, it would be possible to use six-inch pipes in the shorter and upper streets; and I have accordingly entered that size for a part of them in the tables.
This is some saving, but not nearly so much as might at first sight be thought; for (as was stated on page 181) the cost of the pipe is only a small portion of the whole cost of laying the sewer, which is nearly the same in case of each size, varying with the depth and material of the trench.
At any rate, it is desirable to have the sewers larger than the house drains, because it is almost impracticable to prevent improper articles being thrown down the house drains ; and if the sewers are no larger they will be obstructed.
I think for your purposes it would be safe to estimate the cost of a sewer for any given street at from 75 cents to $1.25 per running foot for the upper streets of the town ; but in all cases before build- ing, or even voting to build, it would be wise to have an accurate survey and profile by a competent engineer, who will vary the size and depth, and consequent cost of the sewer, to suit the particular case in hand.
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