USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1862-1866 > Part 12
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Since the introduction of an additional supply into Bell Pond last spring, there have been constant and increasing applications for water from the City Aqueduct. These have been supplied in all cases where it was deemed prudent so to do, without prejudice to previous takers.
All the means of supply conveyed at present in any manner into the city for public use, are taxed to their full extent, and still have addi- tional calls for furnishing more water. To this statement the present City Aqueduct forms no exception. The pond will supply about the present number of takers during all those seasons which are as favor- able as the past one has been. But a careful and attentive study of it
11
during the past summer leads to the conclusion that it will fail even the present number of takers, in a season of great drouth.
The consumers of water from the City Aqueduct are restricted in its use by ordinance, in such a manner, that the Aqueduct Commissioner may cut them off when the amount in Bell Pond has been reduced to such an extent as to be only sufficient for the use of the Fire Depart- ment, in case of need, for the extinguishment of fires. The uncertain- ty of feeling thus produced among the consumers, not so much, by the wise provision of the ordinance, as by the fact, that in years past, the ordinance at times has had to be either fully or partially enforced, has led consumers to make various provisions to meet such contingency, and on very many of the premises supplied there is to be found a well, and a rain water cistern, with all the' equipages of force pump, aque- duct, cisterns, connections, and the like, kept constantly in repair to meet such an emergency. Thus admitting by these extra provisions the need and the demand for a reliable supply, and were such a supply ample, those furnished would be saved the vexatious care of keeping the extra implements in order, and all the extra expenses attendant thereon from first to last.
Perhaps in some instances wells would be retained to supply water for drinking purposes. But in all the central portion of the city, where the wells are very generally impure and hard, and each year increasing the difficulty, say along Main street from Lincoln Square to the City Hall, and east, including Summer street, were the supply ample and reliable no long time would elapse before most of the wells and cis- terns would be entirely abandoned.
Statistics have been collected of the number of buildings and their occupancy in the central portion of the city, as nearly correct as the limited time which has been allotted to the subject would permit. The results of these investigations have been condensed into the following table, which needs these explanations :
Column A, includes that portion of the city lying east of Lincoln street to the Green Brook Valley, and north of Belmont street to Paine's woods.
B. West of Lincoln street as far north as the house of F. W. Paine, and northerly of Lincoln Square to Grove Mill, and south-westerly of Salisbury's Pond to Highland street.
C. East of Summer street to Chandler Hill, and north of the Hos- pital to Belmont street.
D. That portion of the city southerly of the Hospital and easterly of Summer street, along Shrewsbury street, known as East Worcester.
E. Southerly of the Worcester Railroad from the Bloomingdale road following the line of settlement down Mill Brook, until it touches said road below Plymouth street.
F. East of Main street to Summer street, and south of Lincoln Square to Front street, including all Main street and the west side of Summer street, and the north side of Front.
G. South from Front Street, to the Junction and Jackson street, and west from the Western Railroad to Main Street.
12
H. West of Main street to the valley of the Agricultural Grounds ; south from Highland street to the Oread.
Under the head of buildings is included dwellings, blocks and machine shops, and under the head of tenements has been given the number of families, as near as could well be ascertained without per- sonal inquiry at each separate block or dwelling, and among shops, has been intended to include each individual firm carrying on in any block or building mechanical business. These remarks sufficiently indicate the principle upon which the table has been formed.
Description of Enumeration.
East of Lincoln
West of Lin-
coln Street.
East of Sum-
mer Street.
East Worcester
to Summer St.
South of West
ern Railroad.
Between Main
& Summer Sts.
South of Front
West of Main
Street.
A.
B.
C.
D.
·E.
F.
G.
H.
Totals.
Number of Buildings,
60
67
234
134
221
503
371
538
2128
86
131
348
273
363
767
624
825
3417
Offices,.
130
5
5
140
Saloons,
26
7
...
1
....
"
Bakeries
1
1
1
3
( Stables,
23
19
36
9
27
67
65
103
349
4
Engine & Hook & Ladder Houses,
1
....
1
5
1
1
9
Shops, Foundries and Manufact's, ..
1
4
4
12
185
55
13
274
Wire and Rolling Mills,.
2
School Houses and Churches,
3
3
3
10
9
6
34
Halls, public and private,.
....
Amount of pipe now laid in City Aqueduct,
27,780 feet-5 1-4 miles.
Number of hydrants now supplied,
112.
" parties now taking water, 146.
" private aqueducts, 3 ; miles of pipe in same, about
.4.
66 " parties supplied, mostly families, about,. 112.
It will be noticed that the number of places supplied by all aque- ducts combined amount to but a very small fraction of the number of occupied premises in the entire district. The outer limit of the dis- trict would not demand any further supply for some years to come, hence, the present demand is included in the center portion, which includes about three-fourths of all the buildings and nearly all the business. On personal examination of the premises in this district, which are supplied by the present aqueducts, public and private, and those which are not, there are scarcely any data upon which to predi- cate the conclusion that those which are now unsupplied would not be, were the means sufficient, as well as those which now are.
Another consideration is the demand for an increase of water for the extinguishment of fires. The present Aqueduct is efficient only within a certain range, and much more limited than most are aware,
Tenements,
Stores,
2
9
17
208
44
11
291
66
Hotels,
1
4
Depots,.
" Gas House, ..
...
......
3
..
36
6
1
..
10
Street.
Street.
13
who are not practically conversant with the fact. There being no place in the city where over three hydrants can be effectively used at the same time, in most places only two, and in some only one. This may be owing as much to the smallness of the pipes laid, as the deficiency of water, but there stands the fact. Taking all that portion of the city covered by Mill Brook, the two steamers are at present quite as effectual as the Aqueduct.
That portion of the city lying west of Main street is quite insufficient- ly protected from fire by the present Aqueduct. The smallness of the pipes laid for mains in Main street, and the elevations of a larger por- tion of this section above Main street, renders the extreme end of the pipes quite inefficient for much else save supplying water, in moderate quantities, for the hand engines. These pipes only cover portions of Pleasant, Elm, Chestnut and Bowdoin streets, and away from these localities, especially in very dry weather, there is practically no water for fire purposes that can be obtained within any available distance of the densely settled portion of Chatham, Chandler, Austin and Wil- liam streets, and the northerly portion of Harvard street, and some sections lying adjacent.
If the main pipe in Main street were much larger than at present, the amount of water furnished on the streets where the present pipes now lay would be very much increased, as there then would not be that loss of head, at present occasioned by traveling long distances in too small pipes.
Should the project be adopted of supplying the city with water from any of the sources hitherto examined in the town of Leicester, and the main pipe be brought down Main Street, say as far as Thomas street, and that portion of pipe now lying in Main street from Myrtle street to Thomas street, be taken up and relaid in Chandler or Austin street, then the southern portion of the city would be quite amply protected, as compared with its present protection.
Then again, if the additional supply be brought from the west, and the distributing reservoir be placed, as is proposed, at an elevation equal to that of the Bell Pond Reservoir, then the present pipes on Main, Summer and Front streets, by the arrangement of proper stop cocks, and with good management, will be twice as efficient for fire purposes as at present, for the reason that they will be supplied with water from opposite directions at the same time.
This subject claims the most serious attention in connection with the demand for a further supply of water, as a single fire in these unpro- tected sections, at some unfortunate time, might destroy more proper- ty than enough to defray the expenses of the completion of the present project, and that, too, in the face of the very best and highest efforts of an efficient fire department ; for a well manned, drilled and equipped fire department, in case of need, without water, is just as efficient for protection, as a large army well drilled and equipped, but without ammunition ; and no fault-finding with the management of the one, or the generalship of the other, can either supply the one with water, or the other with ammunition.
·
14
For manufacturing purposes, all the present supplies of pure water combined, are totally inadequate to be relied upon to any extent. The amount of steam used in the various work-shops enumerated in the center district amounts to about 1150 horse power, not including the vast amount of steam power at Nathan Washburn's Rolling Mill, the water for all of which is mainly drawn from Mill Brook. This brook having become and having to remain the great common sewer for the City, the water is very impure and unfit for any purpose for which pure water is needed. On inquiry of those who use its water, there has been scarcely one who is fully satisfied with its quality. Most of this might and would be supplied at once, at reasonable rates, were the sup- ply ample and pure. The proprietor of the Rolling Mill has stated that he would pay largely to the city to be only insured a supply for all his works at such times as his present machinery and sources fail to supply him. For other than steam purposes large amounts of water are wanted,
The demand for water for these purposes will be illustrated by a sin- gle application which has been made to the Aqueduct department this present year. Early in the season application was made by Messrs. Messinger & Wright, the lessees of the Fox Woolen Mill estate, for a supply of water for washing light colored woolen goods in process of manufacture ;- their present supply comes from Mill Brook. On ex- amination of their premises and the uses for which water was desired, it was found that it was utterly impossible to finish with certainty, the light shades of goods in marketable style with the turbid waters of the brook. Their application seemed so reasonable and the favor to them so manifestly for the best interest of the city that permission was granted to use water to the extent alone of washing their white goods. This is but a single example, and shows that if the city is to keep pace with her other sister cities in material prosperity, she must also furnish the same facilities towards that end as do all the others. Some may reply, that the waters of Mill Brook should be kept pure ; that the stream should not be allowed to be used as common sewer. The reply to this statement is, that sewerage is just as necessary for a city as a supply of water, and any system of sewerage for the city which shall supercede Mill Brook, will be more expensive than the present project ; and then after it is completed, into what shall its sewerage be discharged ?
The next inquiry is, what amount of water will be sufficient to con- stitute a full supply ? ' The usual mode of estimating is to allow a cer- tain number of gallons to each individual enumerated in the population. At the time the Cochituate water works were projected, the engineers . assumed that 283 gallons per day to each individual would be a suffi- cient allowance. This was assumed because the practice of supplying cities with water, up to that time, had found that quantity to be suffi- cient. Assuming our population to be supplied as 15,000, this data would give 427,500 gallons. But this is probably too low. It may be sufficient for all purposes of use but will not include waste. Tables have been prepared showing the amount of water used in Boston and Hartford, which will be readily understood by inspection.
15
CITY OF BOSTON.
Supply, Income, &c., since the commencement.
Amount con- sumed per day.
Annual income to Jan. 1, of each year.
Water takers .- Total number Jan. 1, of each . year ..
Total No of fixtures sup- plied as far as registered.
Gallons consumed per day per individual.
Income per 1000 gallons in cents.
1848
ed Oct. 25.
1849
3.680.000
$72.043.20
12.108
423
4.61
1851
6.883.800
98.367.90
13.463
42
6.42
1852
8.125.800
161.299.72
16.076
50
6.05
1853
8.542.300
179.486.25
16.862
31.594
57₺
6.29
1854
9.902.000
196.352.32
18.170
63
-
6.00
1855
10.346.300
217.007.51
19.193
633
7.05
1856
12,048.600
266.302.77
19.998
72
6.42
1857
12.726.000
282.651.84
20.806
73
6.22
1858
12.847.000
289.328.83
21.602
47.888
72₺
6.44
1859
13.175.000
302.409.73
22.414
52.744
72
6.54
1860
17.238.000
314.808.97
23.271
59.218
5.31
1861
18.189.304
334.544.86
24.316
64.526
99₺
5 54
1862
16.600.000
365.323.46
25.486
75.216
89
6.17
1863
373.922.88
26.289
77.843
CITY OF HARTFORD.
Date.
Total number of gallons used per annum.
Average No. Daily con- of gallons sumption per individual. consumed per day.
Total annual receipts.
Average revenue pr 100 galls in mills
Current expenses including interest.
Annual cost of pumping.
No. of assess- ments.
1856
104.914.656
345.114
$7.030.06
6.7
$18.940.72
1041
1857
190.456.203
521.797
16.112.07
8.4
28.570.35
2232
1858
242 354.674
661.245
21.821.75
9.2
29 385,56
3151
1859
286.648.604
785.338
26.000.51
9.0
30.271.80
.....
1860
327.417.801
897.035
30.038.44
9.1
31.166.73
......
1861
401.080.335
1.098.850
33.259.06
8.2
32.227.41
.....
.....
1862
491.644.749
1.346.971
51
37.010.90
33.772.22|
$5.777.17
5643
.....
The foregoing tables conclusively show that when once water is in- troduced, that its use increases from year to year, and probably by the same laws that govern the increase of business, comfort and refinement.
In Boston, it is to be remarked, that in 1853, when the takers were 16,862 the fixtures supplied were 31,594; and that in January 1, 1863, while the takers had increased 9427, the fixtures supplied had increased 46,294, or nearly five times as fast as the number of takers, showing that from year to year old takers are constantly adding to their fixtures as business necessity, domestic comfort or luxury add the mo- tive, and increased prosperity the means of making the extension. The same results are constantly going on here with the present City Aque- duct, and would be very much more increased with a full supply of water.
Works open-
5.200
1850
5.837.900
16
An estimate is here given of the amount required to furnish a full supply to the entire center district as now occupied.
Total gallons.
3417 Families at 150 gallons per day,
512,550
291 Stores at 100 66 66
29,100
140 Offices at 50
7,000
33 Saloons at 300 66
9,900
6 Hotels at 1,500 66 66
9,000
3 Bakeries at 500 66 6
1,500
6 Stables at 1000 gallons and 340 at 100 each, 40,000
4 Depots and gas house, - 7,000
274 Shops and foundries at 200 each, - 54,800
5 Railroad companies using at present - 43.000
For manufacturing purposes and steam, say 200,000
Total, 913,850
In the above estimate Bell Pond has been assigned to, the fire de- partment, for watering streets, and a portion of the usual wastage.
The present project contemplates building a Retaining Reservoir on Lynde Brook, on the farm of Mr. Edwin Waite, in Leicester, and a Distributing Reservoir near the school-house in Valley Falls district, at the same elevation as the present one on Chandler Hill, and the lay- ing of so much main pipe as shall be necessary to convey the water from the storing reservoir to the distributing, and thence along the main road to the city, and connect this main with the present City Aqueduct at Thomas street, and then supply from the present pipes all which they will be able to distribute, and lay distributing pipes only so fast as the public interests and the income to be derived from the sales of water shall warrant. Hence the whole amount of water stated above cannot be used at once. The amount of pipes already laid is nearly 54 miles. From the pipes as now laid, may be supplied nearly as fol- lows :
Total gallons.
900 Families, 150 gallons per day,
- 135,000
125 Stables, six at 1000 gallons and 119 at 100, 17,900
279 Stores, 100 gallons per day, 27,500
200 Shops, 200 66 66
40,000
135 Offices, 50
66
6,750
31 Saloons, 300
66
9,300
6 Hotels, 1500 66 66 66
9,000
5 Railroads, - - -
43,000
500 Horse-power of steam, 50 gallons, 25,000 -
4 Depots, 4,000
Gas House,
3,000
3 Bakeries, -
1,500
17
For manufacturing purposes,
60,000
Public halls and buildings,
5,000
Watering streets, -
40,000
Total,
426,950
Add for waste, say -
23,050
Total estimate in gallons,
450,000
Thus much for demand and supply. Now the main question must be touched, that of " Will it pay ?" This is the question that is vital to the enterprise. From this stand point viewed negatively comes many a nay against the project, even where the enlightened judgment admits the demand and the necessity. The amount of water estimated above which may be furnished from the present pipes is, say 450,000 gallons. Taking the average annual income of Boston as 6.06 cents per thousand gallons, this would give an annual income of $9,953. Taking the average of Hartford, a city in circumstances and population more nearly like our own and the income would be $13,114; which would be the interest of $150,000, and $4,140 to pay current expenses.
Aside from a direct income from the sale of water, there is an in- come which the public derive from the use in water for protection against fire. In Boston, in 1853, after five years trial with their aqueduct, it was estimated that the direct saving in city expenses in maintaining the fire department alone, derived from the aqueduct, was over $51,000 per annum ; that is, it cost that sum less to maintain the fire depart- ment with the aqueduct than it would without it. In the city of Hart- ford, the water board there assess the hydrants thirty dollars per an- num each, as the value which the public should pay for the benefits derived from the use; and this amount is reported each year as a part of the legitimate income of their water works. The last year, their hydrants being 149, the reported amount of income therefrom is given at $4.470. If hydrants are equally valuable to us as to the city of Hartford, then the value of these to the public when the present pro- ject shall be completed, would be for 126 hydrants, 16 new ones being added, $3,780. Apart from the protection to individual property in cases of emergency, when it is considered that the rates of insurance are directly affected with every increase of facility for extinguishing fires when they occur, the assessment of thirty dollars per hydrant seems not to be erroneous but just. In consulting the Board of En- gineers upon this matter, their conclusion is that although as the city increases, the expenses of the fire department will increase ; still if an abundant supply of water be introduced, and proper hydrants located over various parts of the city as the works are extended, that the ex- penses of the fire department will not increase as fast with the water as without it.
The past season careful surveys in detail have been made of the basin
3
18
of Lynde Brook, Henshaw Pond, and all of that portion of Kettle Brook above the mill of Samuel L. Hodges, in Cherry Valley.
The basin of Lynde Brook above the outlet of the intervale, on the farm of Mr. Edwin Waite, contains 1,870 acres; that of Henshaw Pond 590 acres ; that of Kettle Brook as above, 4,200 acres. Thus it will be seen that the basin of Lynde Brook is 3,169 times as large as Henshaw Pond Basin, and that of Kettle Brook only about 24 times larger than that of Lynde Brook.
In general terms the water drained from any basin is directly pro- portional to its area, and the amount of rain falling thereon.
Climate, soil, and geological structure each add their varying influ- ence. The soil of some basins may be so loose and absorbent, so cir- cumstanced in structure as to retain or convey away most of the rain falling thereon and furnish waters to supply springs in other basins than its own. Or a basin may receive the waters of large springs drawing supplies from districts far beyond its own water shed line.
The contour of all the water sheds above named are rough, broken, and hilly, quite uniform in character and all their general features. Their levels so nearly correspond with each other, their soils so imper- vious, that it is highly probable that no one of them receives the waters of large springs supplied from the waters of the others, or vice versa. Hence estimates of the amount of water drained from any one of them based upon the area and the amonnt of rain fall will be quite reliable.
When the estimates were made for supplying the city of Boston with water from Lake Cochituate, it was then assumed that the amount of water which the Lake would furnish would be equal to 40 per cent. of the an- nual amount of rain fall. Since the construction of the Aqueduct, careful measurements have been made of the amount of water supplied the city from the Lake, and of the annual amount of wastage, and also the annual rain fall at the Lake. Taking these items as they are stated in the annual reports of the Water Board and the Chief Engineer, making no allowance for the difference in the height of the Lake be- tween the beginning and the end of the year, the percentage of rain fall drained off from the Basin for the ten years named has been as follows :
Inches of Rain.
Per cent. . drained oif.
Inches of Rain.
Per cent. drained off.
1851
43.97
55.3
1858
48 66
43.5
1852
47.93
46.4
1859
49.02
80.5
185%
55.86
38.4
1860
55.44
37.3
1851
43.15
53.8
1861
46.44
68.8
1857
63.10
77.3
1862
49.69
39.2
AVERAGE FOR THE 10 YEARS- 54.04 PER CENT.
The following table, showing the connection between the rain fall and the percentage drained off from any area, has been derived mainly from an English work on Hydraulic Engineering, by Samuel Hughes.
19
The last seven experiments were made in this country, the others in England.
Inches of Rain fall
NAME OF DRAINAGE AREA.
per annum.
Per cent. drained off.
Bann Reservoir, (Moorland).
72
66
Greenock, (Flat Moor)
60
68
Bute, (Low Country)
45.4
53
Glencorse, (Pentland Hills)
37
60
Belmont, (Moorland) 1843,
65.4
80
1844,.
50
67
1845,
55
75
1846,
49.8
67
Rivington Pike,.
55.5
44
Turton and Eutwistte, 1836,. 66
48.2
81
Ashton,
Bateman's Evidence on the Drainage Area of Longdendale :
21.2
64
Second “ 1845,
38.6
71
First
1846,
22.5
78
Oct., Nov. and Dec., 1846,.
10.2
85
Mr. Hawkesley's Experiments on an area of 100 sq. miles,
43
Mr. Stirrat's three years' Experiments at Paisley,.
67
Eaton Brook, Madison Co., N. Y., 6,800 acres,
66
Madison Brook, “ 6,000
50
Albany Water Works, First Station, 2,600 acres, May to Oct., 1850,.
413
Albany Water Works, First Station, 2,600 acres,
Nov. to April, 1850,
77.6
Albany Water Works, First Station, 2,600 acres, May to Oct., 1851,
82.5
Albany Water Works, Second Area, 8.000 acres, July to Dec.,
33.6
Albany Water Works, Second Area, 8,000 acres, Dec. to June,.
53.6
66 Stevenson's Report, 1847 and 1848,
63.6
63
46.2
89
1837,
40
39
First half of 1845 very dry,
The difference in the percentage in the different years may be ac- counted for in the differing circumstances under which the rain fell. If during the summer months the rain descends in frequent, gentle and light showers, with an atmosphere in a suitable condition to aid rapid evaporation, the amount of rain so falling, though large in the aggre- gate, will aid the supply but very little, because it will mostly be carried off again by evaporation. But if the amount falling comes down in occasional powerful showers these will fill the small streams abundantly, and supply an increased amount of water in the larger streams over the small frequent showers. That is to say, more water will be collected in the streams from a single heavy shower in which two inches of rain falls in the course of two hours, than in six gentle showers furnishing the same amount of rain, with a fair and windy day intervening between them.
20
And so in the collections of water usually stored up in the form of ice and snow upon the surface of the ground during the winter months. If large accumulations of snow and ice are carried off suddenly in con- nection with strong south winds and rain, as is quite frequently the case in this climate, and that too when the surface of the ground is frozen, the water collected by the streams will be very much larger than if the snow should be melted away by genial suns accompanied by dry north- erly winds. These are some of the varying circumstances which from year to year effect very materially the amount of water collected from any supply district.
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