USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wakefield > Town annual report of the officers of Wakefield Massachusetts : including the vital statistics for the year 1890-1893 > Part 47
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1. That which was devised by F. Brooks, C. E. and was
214
printed in the Town Report for the year ending Feb. 28, 1889. This plan provides for taking the sewage of the thickly settled part of the town, and carrying it by means of a separate system, by gravity, to about fifteen acres of porous land situated in the south-easterly part of the town upon Farm street, upon the west side of the street. This land may be supplemented by taking more upon the east side of the same street. It all lies directly upon the immediate water-shed of the Saugus river, the natural drainage outlet of the town.
As alternatives to this plan the following were presented :-
2. Disposal upon land in the northerly part of the town situ- ated east of the Danvers branch railroad and near the outlet of Lake Quannapowitt, a tributary of the Saugus river. This might require pumping for a portion of the town.
3. Disposal into the Saugus river below Howlett's dam in North Saugus.
4. Disposal into the Metropolitan sewer, by pumping to Melrose.
The actual necessity of an efficient system of sewerage for a thriving and populous community like that of Wakefield is a ques- tion which no longer admits of reasonable doubt. No town which has once established a thorough system of sewerage has had reason to regret the act. A good system of sewerage is second only in importance to a pure and wholesome water-supply. In fact the introduction of a water-supply makes the establishment of a sew- erage system a matter of necessity. Since the greatly increased flow of water, fouled with the sewage of many households, pollutes the ground in all parts of the town. The cesspool is a very poor makeshift for a good system of sewers. In 1889 there were 100 water closets in the town, and that number is now con- siderably increased. Nearly all of these are connected with cess- pools. Mr. Brooks estimated that there were about 600 cess-pools supplying the 5,000 inhabitants in 1889. The annual cost of cleaning these cesspools was estimated at about $2,500 per year. This sum is the interest at 5 per cent on $50,000, which would pay for a large share of constructing a good sewerage system. Added to this is the advantage of getting rid of the noxious sew- age and making the whole town cleaner, more healthy and less
215
liable to epidemics of typhoid fever and other infectious diseases. Many cities and towns in Massachusetts are already provided with good sewerage systems. Some of these towns are smaller than Wakefield, and there is not one of these places which has not been greatly improved by their introduction.
Among these towns are Framingham, Marlborough, West- borough, Nahant, Medfield, Gardner, Lenox, Amherst and Pittsfield.
But the question of providing an efficient system of sewerage for the town of Wakefield is by no means an easy task. The town is not situated upon the sea-coast, like Boston, or Nahant, or Gloucester, where it might dispose of its sewage into the sea, in which it would soon disappear in the ebb and flow of the tides. Nor is it placed upon a broad and rapid river, where the sewage would be immediately carried down the stream, as is the case with the cities and towns upon the Merrimac and the Connecticut. The town is shut in by elevations upon all sides except the valley of the Saugus river, which constitutes the natural drainage outlet of the town.
The sewage may therefore be disposed of in different ways, either by pumping over the elevations into the Metropolitan sys- tem, by disposing of it upon land within the limits of the town, or by turning it directly into the Saugus river at some point below the town.
These points being understood the committee submitted the question to the State Board of Health, for their advice, as is required by the provisions of Chapter 375 of the Acts of the year 1888, which requires the State Board to advise the authorities of towns "already having or intending to introduce systems of sewerage, as to the most practicable method of disposing of their sewage, having regard to the prospective needs and interests of other cities and towns which may be affected thereby."
To this application the State Board, after submitting the ques- tion to its expert engineers, and carefully considering the subject, made the following reply :-
216
OFFICE OF STATE BOARD OF HEALTH,
13 BEACON ST., BOSTON, FEB. 20, 1892.
To the Committee on Sewerage of the Town of Wakefield :
GENTLEMEN,-Your application, dated January 4, 1892, asks for the advice of the Board with regard to a plan (1) for the disposal of the sewage of Wakefield, which is that reported to the town by a sewerage committee in 1889, and provides for the disposal of the sewage upon land situated upon the west side of Farm street in Wakefield. Advice is also asked upon alternative plans as follows :
2. Disposal upon a tract of land in the northerly part of the town, situated east of the Danvers Branch Railroad, and near the Saugus River.
3. Disposal into the Saugus River, below Howlett's dam, in North Saugus.
4. Disposal into the North Metropolitan Sewer at its nearest practicable point in Melrose.
These four plans include but three general methods of disposal, which may be considered in the following order :
1. Disposal by discharging crude sewage into the Saugus river.
2. Disposal into the North Metropolitan System.
3. Disposal by filtration through land, permitting the purified effluent to flow into Saugus River, or some of its tributaries.
The quantity of sewage produced in Wakefield is so great that if it were discharged into the Saugus River without purification, it would before long, if not in the beginning, pollute the stream to such an extent that it would become offensive to those living near it. This method of disposing of the sewage, therefore, can- not be advised.
The plan for the disposal of the sewage into the North Metro- politan System is particularly well adapted for the village of Greenwood, from which it would be difficult to dispose of the sewage by any independent system, or in connection with the sewage of other parts of the town. For the main village of Wakefield a connection with the North Metropolitan System could not probably be made without pumping the sewage, and the cost of pumping, together with the annual charge which would be made for a connection with the Metropolitan System, even if per- mission can be obtained to connect with it, would probably make this method of disposal cost more than an independent system for purifying the sewage upon land, provided a suitable filtration area can be found not too far from the town. There may be reasons, however, which will warrant a connection with the Met- ropolitan System, such as, for instance, the inability to find an
217
area of sufficient size for the disposal of the sewage in the future, which will not interfere with the growth of the town or pollute future sources of water supply.
By filtering the sewage intermittently through porous land in limited quantities per acre, where the surface of the land stands five feet or more above the ground water, the sewage can be so thoroughly purified that its discharge into even a small stream will not be objectionable, and where a sufficient area of land is available and proper care is taken to distribute the sewage evenly, and otherwise to maintain the works in good condition, a sewage field will not be offensive to those living in its neighborhood.
The plan reported by the sewerage committee of the town in 1889, which is the main plan submitted, has the advantage that it" brings the sewage to the filtration area by gravity, but it is defec- tive in that it does not provide for the disposal of the sewage of about one fifth of the buildings shown upon the plan, nor for the sewage of the rattan factory, and the main features of the plan are such that it would be necessary to reconstruct the main lines of the system in order to include the buildings omitted. In addi- tion to these principal objections to the plan, there are still others, occasioned by the high levels of the outlet, such as the great length of sewer in private property and the insufficient depth of the sewers in some of the low lands, principally in the flat land north of Crystal Lake. All of these objections would be met to a large extent if the upper ten feet of the gravelly land near Farm street should be excavated and spread upon the adjacent meadow, and the main sewer lowered a corresponding amount.
If the modified gravity plan here suggested does not prove on investigation to be the best one to adopt, it will probably be necessary to pump all the sewage, in which case the main sewer can be placed in the lowest land and sewage can be taken from all buildings in this portion of the town. If the sewage is to be pumped, the best place for purifying it is by no means evident from the information now before the Board. The land near Farm street, which it was proposed to use in connection with the gravity plan as submitted, is of excellent quality but rather limited in extent. It contains two small houses and a schoolhouse, aud is not very far from settled portions of the town. It has the advan- tage of being more accessible than any other disposal area, and if the modified gravity plan above suggested should be adopted, the available area could be increased to thirty or forty acres, which would be sufficient for all requirements for many years in the future.
The disposal area in the northerly part of the town, mentioned as an alternative, is more uneven than the area near Farm street, and the material is not as porous, although it has sufficient porosity
28
218
to permit the disposal of sewage in a satisfactory manner. This area has the advantage that it is further from settled portions of the town than the one near Farm street.
The Board advises the town to have the whole subject of its sewerage and sewage disposal reinvestigated with a view either to purifying its sewage by filtration at some place where sufficient land can be obtained to meet the requirements for the next thirty or forty years, or to pumping it into the Metropolitan System. These examinations should also include a system for the village of Greenwood, which can probably be taken care of better by the Metropolitan System than in any other way.
There are a few points in this reply which it is desirable to con- sider a little more fully. It is stated in the reply that, under proper management, a sewage-field within the limits of a town need not become offensive to those who live near it. Your com- mittee found this to be the fact at Framingham, where, on visiting the sewage-field, they found the sewage rapidly disappearing beneath the surface of the ground, even in midwinter. The same is true in midsummer ; and one member of your committee, after visiting many such fields both in Massachusetts and in other coun- tries, reports that wherever the sewage-fields are well cared for, there need be no grounds for fearing that they may prove to be offensive.
During the course of this investigation by your committee, an approximate estimate has been made with reference to the proba- ble share which Wakefield would have to pay of the cost of main- tenance, interest, and sinking fund, provided the town were granted the right to enter the Metropolitan system of sewerage. The esti- mate made is $3,900 per year as the probable share of Wakefield. This has reference only to the share of the town in the running expenses of the general system, outside the limits of the town.
The cost of constructing the sewer from Wakefield to Melrose, together with the cost of the necessary pumping station and stor- age-tanks are entirely unknown, and cannot be determined with- out a survey which your committee was not authorized to make.
In concluding your committee would recommend that the town should authorize a careful investigation of each of these questions referred to in the advice of the State Board of Health, in order
219
that the best and most practicable system of sewerage may be adopted for the town; and appropriate a sufficient amount for further and more complete investigation of the subject.
W. G. STRONG, Chairman, J. A. O'LEARY, Secretary, T. J. SKINNER, G. W. HARRINGTON, S. W. ABBOTT, Committee on Sewerage.
CORRECTION.
In department of Highways and Bridges, the amount paid Samuel Kimball for gravel should be $11.65 instead of $17.35. The balance, $5.70, was expended as follows :
Edw. N. Sweetser, gravel,
$4 70
Rufus Kendrick, burning brush,
1 00
$5 70
CONTENTS AND INDEX.
PAGES
List of Town Officers,
3 and 4
List of Jurors,
5 and 6
.
Records of Town Meetings, .
6 to 41
Town Clerk's Statistics, .
42 to 64
Report of Selectmen,
65 to 73
Police Department,
74 to 78
Road Commissioners,
79 to 85
Board of Health, .
86 to 94
Forest Firewards, .
95 to 98
Overseers of Poor,
. 99 and 100
Fire Engineers,
101 and 102
Town Treasurer,
. 103 to 121
Assessors,
122 and 123
Collector,
124
Trustees of Library and Read-
ing Room, . . . 125 to 134
Librarian,
.
133
Auditors, . 135 to 177
Auditors' Final Statement, 178
School Committee,. . 179 to 209
Appropriation Committee, 210 and 211 Sewerage Committee, . 212 to 219
REPORT
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON SEWERAGE
OF THE
TOWN OF WAKEFIELD, MASS.,
1
INCLUDING REPORT OF THE
ENGINEER,
AND THE LETTER OF APPROVAL OF THE
STATE BOARD OF HEALTH,
OCTOBER, 1892.
A. W. BROWNELL, PRINTER, WAKEFIELD, MASS.
!
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON SEWERAGE.
WAKEFIELD, MASS., Oct. 19, 1892.
TO THE CITIZENS OF WAKEFIELD :-
At the town meeting held in November, 1891, a com- mittee was appointed for the purpose of considering the general question of sewerage for the town, and to report upon the same in the following March. The committee appointed at that time attended to the duties prescribed, and submitted the question to the State Board of Health, indicating at the same time certain alternative methods of sewage disposal, and asking the Board to state which method the Board would advise the town to adopt as the best, the most economical and the most practicable. The reply of the Board is printed in the Town Report for the financial year ending January 31, 1892.
In this reply the State Board advised the town "to have the whole subject of its sewerage and sewage disposal re- investigated with a view either to purifying its sewage by filtration, at some place where sufficient land can be obtained to meet the requirements for the next thirty or forty years, or to pumping it into the Metropolitan System."
At the town meeting in March this question having been submitted to the town, a new committee was appointed with authority to employ an engineer at an expense not exceeding $400, to carry out the advice of the State Board and have a careful survey made.
This committee, consisting of Messrs. W. G. Strong, Dr. J. A. O'Leary, G. W. Harrington, W. E. Cowdrey and Dr. S. W. Abbott, organized by choosing W. G. Strong as
1
Chairman and Dr. J. A. O'Leary as Secretary, and here- with presents its report.
The preliminary report of Fred Brooks, C. E., which was made in 1889 upon the same subject, has afforded valu- able aid in the investigation of the question.
The question of the sewage disposal of the town is not easy of solution, as was stated in the report of last March. The sewerage of the streets, including the adjustment of the size of pipes, the fixing of their grades, the location of cut- tings and embankments, underdrains, manholes, etc., in- volve no very difficult problems, but the more important question of the final disposal of the sewage, or contents of the sewers, in such a manner that it shall cause the least annoyance to the people, either of this town or to those of other towns lying below us, is one of considerable difficulty.
For the performance of this important duty the com- mittee secured the services of Louis Hawes, C. E., who has given to the work very careful attention and whom the committee desires to commend for the faithful manner in which he has performed this difficult task.
The committee has also had the advantage, under the provisions of the recent General Statute of 1888, of receiv- ing the advice and counsel of the State Board of Health, whose engineer has made repeated visits to the town, exam- ined the different points involving difficulties of execution, and given much time and assistance in examination of the proposed plan.
The final reply of the State Board of Health, endorsing and approving the system, as required by law, has been received and is published with this report.
The advantages to be secured by the adoption of a system of sewerage in a town are as follows :-
1. The removal from the inhabited parts of the town of the excremental filth of privies, water-closets, bath- rooms and kitchen sinks, which always constitutes a source
5
of danger when stored in the soil, in cesspools and vaults, underneath or near inhabited dwellings.
2. The drying of the soil. This point is too often overlooked. A good system of sewerage not only removes filth, but dries the soil of all regions which are provided with sewers. This is proven by the experience of all sew- ered towns, since the quantity of water discharged from the final outlet is much greater than the mere household sewage which is admitted to the system. A well-planned system provides for this additional flow by means of small under- drains, which carry the comparatively pure water of the soil from those sewered districts which are in unusually damp regions.
The town has now a plan which is extremely valuable, and your committee would urgently recommend its adop- tion as an aid to the prosperity, growth, and more than all to the healthfulness of the town. Fortunately most of the necessary land for the final disposal of the sewage is already the town's property and if more is needed it can be pur- chased or taken for the purpose under the provisions of a general act of 1890. Your committee has examined the operation of sewerage systems in other towns of the size of Wakefield and is entirely satisfied of the possibility of a suc- cessful solution of the sewage problem of Wakefield. We present herewith the report of the Engineer, which has been submitted, in compliance with the Statute of 1888, to the State Board of Health, and received the approval of that Board, and their endorsement and approval follows the Engineer's Report.
W. G. STRONG, G. W. HARRINGTON,
S. W. ABBOTT, J. A. O'LEARY, W. E. COWDREY,
Committee.
6
ENGINEER'S REPORT.
To MESSRS. W. G. STRONG, DR. J. A. O'LEARY, G. W. HAR- RINGTON, DR. S. W. ABBOTT and W. E. COWDREY, Committee on Sewerage, Wakefield, Mass.
GENTLEMEN :- In pursuance of your directions I have inves- tigated the subject of sewerage for Wakefield, considered the possibilities of sewage disposal by discharging into the Metropol- itan system, also by filtration at some point on the banks of the Saugus River ; made surveys covering the entire town ; prepared a plan of the most feasible and economical system, and have the following results and recommendations to offer :
The town is divided topographically by a ridge whose summit is Hart's Hill, into two distinct drainage areas, one lying to the north, the other to the south, and there is no line from one to the other over which a gravity sewer could be carried so as to serve a district that would be large enough to warrant the outlay.
GREENWOOD AND BOYNTON.
The area to the south comprises the villages of Greenwood and Boynton and properly belongs within the limits of the Metropolitan system. As disposal of the sewage of those two villages into that system would be more economical than to pump it over the ridge into a system at Wakefield Centre, and as the Metropolitan system can easily care for so small an additional population, and as no local filtration area can be utilized that is advisable, outlet into that system is recommended as the · most feasible for adoption when those villages shall require a sewerage system. The plan shows a system of sewers designed to cover the territory mentioned and including the locality to the south of Crystal Lake and west of the Boston and
7
Maine Railroad. The main sewer passes down Main street in Greenwood to Hanson street, receiving the sewage of the eastern district at the intersection of Greenwood avenue; then crosses via Hanson street and private land to Greenwood street in Boyn- ton, where sewage from that district would be intercepted ; then by Greenwood street into Melrose and connect with their principal main in this part of the town, at the intersection of Franklin and Tremont streets, the Melrose main from the Metro- politan sewer to this point being large enough, as provided in the preliminary plans of the State Board of Health, to admit it. An enlargement would be required from there to the Wakefield line.
WAKEFIELD CENTRE AND THE METROPOLITAN SYSTEM.
Connecting the area north of Hart's Hill, comprising Wake- field Centre and the outlying districts with the Metropolitan system involves pumping the sewage and disposing of it by discharging into the nearest available sewer of that system. The main sewers provided for Melrose come nearer to Wakefield than those for Stoneham, and connection with them offers a special inducement in that the sewage of Greenwood and Boynton could be intercepted by the main line from Wakefield. By this method the sewage of Wakefield Centre would be collected by gravity at a low point, where the receiving basin and pumping station would be established,-the valley east of the factory of the Wakefield Rattan company being the best locality ; favorable points being situated either north or south of Water street and within 500 feet of the intersection of Water and Melvin streets. From there the best route for forcing the sewage over the ridge that lies be- tween Wakefield Centre and Greenwood would be by Water street to the Salem branch of the B. & M. R. R., then parallel to and east of the railroad to Main street, and by the latter to the sum- mit between Charles and Green streets. The main would be laid to grade, and to this point would be of 12-inch cast-iron pipe, made necessary by the pressure it would have to sustain, the maximum head being 65 feet. Beyond the summit the main would be of vitrified pipe and assume the functions of a gravity sewer, 12 inches in diameter to the foot of the hill, 15 inches from there down Main street, through Greenwood to Hanson
8
street ; thence via Hanson street and private property to Linden street in Boynton, where it would be increased to 18 inches in diameter and continuing via Linden and Greenwood streets to the Melrose line : thence in that town as a part of the Melrose sys- tem via Greenwood, Franklin and Tremont streets, and beyond, increasing in size, as required by the Melrose sewage, and contin- uing to Wyoming avenue, where the intercepting sewer of the Metropolitan system receives the greater part of the sewage of Melrose, and to which point the main sewer in Melrose from the Wakefield town line over the route mentioned would have to be enlarged sufficiently to accommodate the flow from Wakefield in addition to the flow from Melrose.
The principal advantage of this outlet for the sewage of Wakefield is that it is carried far away from the town and ulti- mately out to sea.
The disadvantages arise largely from the expense of the long main in Wakefield, the cost of increasing the size of the main sewer for a mile and a half through Melrose, provided an arrangement could be made with the Melrose authorities for mak- ing such enlargements; the expensive pumping machinery that would be required for a lift of 65 feet as compared with that for a lift of one fifth the height by another method; and the annual payment towards the cost of construction and maintenance of the entire North Metropolitan system in addition to a similar expense on the local system. Following is an estimate of cost of the above method of disposal and the annual expense incurred by the same :
Estimate of cost of System for Wakefield Centre, if connected with the Metropolitan System.
Street sewers as proposed,
$41,282 70
Pumping plant and basins,
25,633 00
Force main and outfall sewer to the Melrose line,
21,868 50
Enlarging the main sewer in Melrose, .
4,908 15
Engineering, superintendence and contingencies, 8 per ct.,
7,495 39
Total, .
$101,187 74
9
Estimate of annual expense of System for Wakefield Centre, if connected with the Metropolitan System (for 1895) .
For interest and sinking fund, Wakefield's proportional part for the Metropolitan System by valuation, as esti- mated, 1.42 per ct. of $180,000.00, .
$2,556 00
For maintenance and operating expenses, Wakefield's pro- portional part for the Metropolitan system by popula- tion, as estimated. 1 54 per ct. of $89,000 00,
1,370 60
For interest and sinking fund, local system, 20 year bonds at 3₺ per ct ..
8,600 96
1,500 00
For maintenance and operating expenses, local system, Total,
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