YESTERDAY AND TODAY

100 YEARS OF WATER SUPPLY

100 YEARS OF WAIER SUPPLY

PUBLISHED BY

THE WATER BUREAU OF THE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT HARTFORD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT FOREWORD

One hundred years ago, in 1855, this community first enjoyed the advantages of a public water supply, serving what is now the central portion of Hartford and constructed by the Water Board of the City of Hartford. This booklet is offered in commemoration of that occasion. Thisyear, 1955, also marksthetwenty-fifth anniversary of the Metropolitan District, a municipal corporation char­ tered by the GeneralAssemblyofConnecticutand exercising, within the Hartford metropolitan area the functions of water supply, sewerage and regional planning. In 1930, the Dis­ trict assumed the water supply functions of the City and of the towns and fire districts within the towns of Bloomfield, Windsor, Newington and Wethersfield. At that time the sys­ tern had a valuation (fixed capital) of 13-1/2 million dollars, and included storage reservoirs with capacity for about 11 billion gallons. The average daily consumption was 18 mil­ lion gallons and a population of 212, 000 was supplied with water. Today the daily consumption averages 40 million gallons. Storage capacity has been increased to 41 billion gallons and the plant valuation is close to 50 million dollars. The East Hartford and Rocky Hill water systems have been transferred to the District and over 345, 000 people are being served.

~- MAIN ST,, HARTFORD, SOUTH FROM ASYLUM ST,, 1865

INSIDE COVER- THE SAME VIEW, 1955 THE FIRST VENTURE======THE CONNECTICUT RIVER SUPPLY======

In Hartford the news spread like wildfire on the morning of October 23, 1855. In shops and stores along State and Main Streets, clerks eagerly pas sed the news along to cus­ tamers: "They're starting the pumps for the new water works this noon. Imagine! We'll have water coming right into our homes . " Asa Perkins hung a sign in the door of his butcher shop, "Be back at one o'clock. Gone to the river." Down by the banks of the Connecticut River - about the same site as our Riverside Park- a group of men were gath­ ered around a large engine. Spanking new in the bright sun­ light, the engine with its huge flywheel gave one the feeling of power and durability. The men were proud of this engine; it was Hartford made and designed. A bronze plate on the hub of the wheel proclaimed: "Woodruff & Beach, Mfgrs., Hartford, Conn. " Water Board President Ezra Clark drove up in his horse and buggy a few minutes before noon. Mr. Clark, a distin­ guishedlooking man with his graying "Galways" beard, joined the other Water Board Commissioners who had arrived min­ utes before. The editor of the Hartford Times jotted down the names of Commissioners E. K. Root, E . M . Reed, Daniel Phillips, and Hiram Bissell. Mr. Bissell, a conscientious man who liked things done promptly, kept fingering his large vest-pocket watch. "I think we should get started now that Mr. Clark is here, tr he insisted. Years of hard work and devotion to public service hung in the balance. Could the engine do the job? Could the pumps force water from the river through a 16 -inch cast iron main and send it a mile away to Lord's Hill Reservoir, a 125 feet above river level? Was the pipe strong enough to hold the pressure? Was Lord's Hill Reservoir - on the present day property of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company on Garden Street - sufficiently impervious to hold water? All these questions would be answered in a few minutes.

WAITING TO START Mayor Deming, stoutish Hartford political leader, shoul­ dered his way into the knot of Water Commissioners. "Ezra, we 1 re all waiting to get started, " he prodded Mr. Clark. The Board President nodded and signaled to Chief Engineer Nathan Starkweather hunched over the engine making a last minute check. Mr. Starkweather, chief engineer for only a few months, mopped his brow despite the cool October wind. The news had traveled fast. By this time the crowd of onlookers had growrt considerably. Out on the river brisk fall winds ruf­ fled the waters, sparkling in the noonday sun. Mr. Starkweather straightened up, wiped his hands, and motioned to his two helpers to start the engine. A quiet fell over the crowd. The big wheel spun lazily .. a couple oi puffs .. a his sing of steam .. then the wheel settled into slow steady revolutions .. then gradually faster, the big connecting rods driving up and down in powerful strokes. An approving murmur rose from the crowd. Soon the sound of water coming through the feeder pipe grew strong and clear. There was no jerking of the pipe under pressure, no alarming pulsation, no strain that could spell trouble. Just the smooth flow of water on its way to its new home on Lord's Hill. Smiles took over where tense expressions had prevailed. Hartford 1 s first public water sup ply be came a reality l There was general handshaking all around. Mayor Dem­ ing, his face florid with delight, announced that this was a day long to remember in Hartford history. Some onlookers crowded around the engine to get a closer look. Others got into their buggies or on horseback for the trip back to town. A few walked along the narrow path to Morgan Street. Some had to hurry back for the wedding at the Fourth Congrega­ tional Church where Watson L. Wilcox was marrying Miss Ellen Peckham. President Clark had tickets for the evening performance of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" at Wyatt's Dramatic Lyceum. Everyone was talking about little Cordelia Howard's performance as Little Eva. u HURRAH FOR THE YANKEES!" Next day the Hartford Courant carried a joyous story about the new Hartford Water Works. Everyone is pleased to see the pump work so smoothly the Courant wrote. "Yan­ kee genius has accomplished what English hydraulic engi­ neers had given up as impossible, an improvement on the time honored Cornish engine for water pumping purposes. If everything works as well as is confidently expected they can learn something in this staid old place. Hurrah for the Yankees!"

z AT RIGHT - THE PUMPING ENGINE ROOM,

I!IELOW- EXTERIOR VIEW OF CONNECTICUT

RIVER PUMPING STATION, NOTE THE HORSE

AND WAGON IN THE FOREGROUND . WAGON

I!IEARS PROUD TITLE RCITYWATERWORKSR.

CONNECTICUT RIVER PUMPING STATION

AT RIGHT- VIEW OF PUMPING GEARS. THIS

PUMPING ENGINE WAS BUILT BY LOCAL

MANUFACTURERS, WOODRUFF AND BEACH,

Wlo!OSE FOUNDRY WAS ON COMMERCE STREET,

OPPOSITE WHATWAS THEN COLT'SARMORY, Sandwiched in the paper was other news. A "Doctor" Kennedy advertised that he was down from Boston, selling a patent medicine derived from "common pasture weed" . This elixir could positively cure anything "from the worst case of scrofula to the common pimple". There was other news too. Dark, forbidding news. An editorial said, "Now or never has come to be the word in every freeman's mouth. WE MUST RESIST the aggressions of the South. We love the Union, but we love justice and humanity even more than the Union. " The rumbling storm of the Civil War was beginning, a storm that would rage into full fury in a few short years.

LORD'S HILL RESERVOIR Lord's Hill Reservoi r- although it was beset by troubles in later years - was the first successful water supply base in Hartford. Previously Hartford businessmen had made fee­ ble attempts at selling water. The Hartford Aqueduct Company was chartered in 1797 but did nothing for several years. Two other organizations around 1800 attempted to operate, the Gleason and Cowles Company and another unnamed company.

LORDIS HILL RESERVOIR ON GARDEN STREET Hartford citizens for many years had demanded some sort of public water supply system. In the north part of the city the well-water was hard and sulphuric in taste. Toward the river where many of the wealthier families lived, the

4 freshets affected the wells. The Hartford Aqueduct Company - although it is not quite clear if this company did the work - ran an aqueduct of bored logs through the center of the city to the river. The water supply came from two sources, one or: Park Street and the other near Cedar Hill. The pipes were too small and the anticipated supply never materialized.

CISTERNS UNDERNEATH HARTFORD STREETS Probably few people know that the central part of Hart­ ford had some twenty cisterns for fire fighting purposes built beneath the streets . Constructed between 1789 and 1850 these cisterns were built entirely of brick with low arched roofs. Each cistern held from 20 to 25 thousand gallons of water supplied from the roof gutters of nearby buildings. During the late 1840's the public demand for water grew more intense . In 1847 Reverend Horace Bushnell, famed for his fiery eloquence, preached his noted sermon "Prosperity our Duty". His text was the passage: "This sameHezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works . " Doctor Bushnell did not direct­ ly appeal for a public water supply system but his intima­ tion was too clear to miss. A proposal to bring water in a canal from Windsor Locks gained support. The proponents planned to use the power furnished from the canal to pump part of the water to a suitable reservoir. The Hartford Common Council ap­ pointed a committee to report on the proposal. The com­ mittee 1 s report was negative.

FIRST BOARD OF WATER COMMISSIONERS During the next few years all sorts of plans and propos­ als filled the Council meetings. Finally the councilmen a­ dopted a plan to provide for water supply from the Connecti­ cutRiver to be pumped by an English-made Cornish engine and delivered in a reservoir to be built on Lord's Hill. Land surveys for the new reservoir began in October, 1853 and the ground broken in June, 1854. In May, 1853, Hartford named the incorporators for the water works: Thomas Belknap, Ca.tvin Day, John Carter, E. K. Root and E. K. Hunt. The first Board of Water Commissioners for the Hartford Water Works took office· in 1854, headed by President Clark. They experienced a stormy launching of the new venture. The first Annual Report denounced con-

5 EARLY 1850'S

WETHERSFIELD RD.

1 • STATE HOUSE \

~ . CITY HAL.L.

3. TRINITY COL.L.EGE

(STATE CAPITOL. SITE) I

.. ' NOW BUSHNELL PARK \ 5. WEL.L.S ST •

R.R. STA.

1 . UNION STA. I

7. WADSWORTH

ATHENEUM

I . FREIGHT DEPOT 9 . JAIL. \ 0 , BURYING GROUND

1 WOODRUFF-BEACH F"OUNORY z. ASYLUM FOR DEAF

3 . PUBL.IC HIGH SCHOOL

4 . COLTtS ARMO • RY FIRE CISTERNS FIRST BOARD OF WATER

COMMISSIONERS: TOP

(L-R) HIRAM BISSELL,

EZRA CLARK, PRESIDENT;

E.M. REED; BOTTOM ROW

DANIEL PHILLIPS, E. K,

ROOT,

ditions they found on taking office. They charged the engineer with incompetence and fired him. " He (the engineer) did not prove to have the necessary knowledge and judgment, and from their lack has drawn the Department into many expensive matters from which the city will ever suffer. " Financially matters were a mess. "The present Board," the report stated, "found its pecuniary affairs embarrassed, they had no funds in the Treasury, and were in debt. " The report showed how a technically irregular sale of bonds had been necessary to meet fixed payments under contracts. The report went on to censure an injunction on delivery of the bonds. This, they felt, reduced the market value of the bonds and cost the city several thousand dollars in pre­ miums. The Court of Common Council refused to accept the re­ port. However, the Water Board abrogated the contract for the Cornish engine. In turn they ordered an engine from local manufacturers, Woodruff and Beach, thereby saving some $3500.

7 The Board appointed Nathan Starkweather as chief engi­ neer in March, 1855 and he supervised building the original works. In his first report he described Lord's Hill Reser­ voi r with banks thirty-two feet high. These were des1gned to be filled to a height of thirty feet, giving a capacity of 8, 600,000 gallons . His report went on "It (the reservoir) answers well the purpose for which it was designed, and is believed to be a substantial and permanent structure although it has been the source of much anxiety. " The method of taking water from the river was quite simple. A 24-inch pipe extended out into the channel, the pipe opening about six feet below the surface. This pipe led to a well from which the pumps drew the water. In the first year of operation the Hartford Water Works laid about 8-l /2 miles of main pipe.

PEAK CONSUMPTION IN WINTER! Very soon the Commissioners foresaw that the reservoir was too small to meet future needs . The 1857 Annual Report complained about wasted water and an alarming draw on the supply. Today our periods of greatest consumption are in the hot summer months. In those early days water consump­ tion hit its peak in the cold winter months! Water users had the disturbing habit of leaving faucets running during the winter months to prevent pipes from freezing. Remember, these were the days before metered water and central heat­ ing. Water rates were $5 a year for a family of five; other rates were also based on likely consumption. Home and industrial users brought in a revenue of $9,517. Furnishing water to the New York New Haven and Hartford Railroad, the Hartford Providence and Fishkill Railroad, building purposes, street watering, and hydrants i ncreased the revenue to $14, 792. Contrast this with the 1954 District water revenue of more than $2, 500, 000. The 1857 report hopefully concluded that within two years the Hartford Water Works would be operating in the black. By 1859 there were 23 miles of main pipe. About 2000 buildings used the water system and the average daily con­ sumption was better than 660,000 gallons . The yearly re­ port contended this consumption was twice the legitimate need, the rest being wasted. The Commissioners had qui­ etly made tests during November. Tests showed the use of water between 10 P . M . and 7 A.M. was about two-thirds the average daily use, proving an unnecessary waste. The Board urged a rate revision to help the works operate in a healthy

8 financial condition. They also emphasized, like prior re­ ports, that a study should be made for additional water sup­ ply bases. In 1860 the Board made a special report to the Common Council suggesting that a reservoir be created in West Hart­ ford and supplied by gravity to Hartford. The 1861 report ad­ monished, "There is no time for delay. The exigency of the city demands action, final and definite . " And indeed, Hartford's water supply was critical. A supply depending on a single pumping-engine and a reservoir holding little more than a week's water needs constantly threatened the city's welfare.

ENTRANCE TO OLD COVERED BRIDGE AT THE FOOT 0~ MORGAN STREET.

VIEW IS LOOKING EAST. THIS BRIDGE BURNED DOWN ON MAY 171 1895 AFTER

SPANNING THE CONNECTICUT RIVER FOR 78 YEARS. Despite the outbreak of the Civil War the end of 1861 pro­ duced one bright local note. For the first time in its exis­ tence the Hartford Water Works showed a surplus in reven­ ue to the tune of $1, 021. 65. On May 27, 1861 the Common Council referred to the Water Board a request to look into additional water supply possibilities. The Board hired Professor Benjamin Silliman to study Trout Brook in WestHartford as a possible source. The Yale expert analyzed the quality of water and adequacy

9 of supply. The Board also hired Mr . McRae Swift, civil engineer, to study the matter from an engineering angle. Professor Siliman declared his studies showed favor­ able findings. Mr. Swift gave two alternatives in his report: either increase pumping facilities at the Connecticut River or adopt the West Hartford plan. He favored the latter. At the same time a group of prominent citizens in Hartford advocated increasing pumping power at the river and build­ ing an additional reservoir on Zion Hill. They estimated future daily consumption at 2 million gallons, about twice the recorded use. All plans came to naught and nothing was done. In 1863 the Board engaged Mr. William E. Worthen of New York to study amplification of the Connecticut River supply. He advised another pumping engine be added to give acombinedflowof6million gallons a day. He also suggested a 35 million gallon reservoir on Zion Hill. The cost for all this was estimated at $ 230,000. Mr. Worthen's plan was dropped.

TROUT BROOK - THE SECOND STAGE Inlessthantenyears after its creation Hartford's Water Works were searching for additional sources of supply. Of all the projected plans, the Trout Brook watershed offered more attractive possibilities. For one thing water could be carried to the city by gravity flow, a very economical fea­ ture . This brief history cannot go into the tedious political bickerings that ensued over using the Trout Brook source. But the stage was set for the second phase of the Water Works' ceaseless search for new supply bases.

10 SLOPES OF TALCOTT MOUNTAIN======::: THE SECOND PHASE======

Finally in October, 1864, Hartford voted for the West Hartford plan. The Board purchased an 80 acre site in the Trout Brook area and work began. However, the Board's troubles were just beginning. Two successive legal injunc­ tions brought by opponents of the plan halted work until the summer of 1865. From then on, the work progressed smooth­ ly. On January 2, 1867, West Hartford Reservoir #l began to supply water by gravity to Hartford. Reservoir #l borders on Farmington Ave., west of West Hartford Center. The Connecticut River pumps, long operated far beyond their ca­ pacities, shut down. Mr. George Marsh directed the building of the first West HartfordReservoir. On his death Mr. Samuel M . Gray took over and completed the job. Reservoir #l was 260 feet above low river level and covered 32 acres. Wrought-iron and cement main pipe laid at the time proved unsatisfactory. Later cast-iron pipe replaced it. Again trouble visited the hard-pressed Water Works: this time it came in a huge rainstorm. On the night of Sep­ tember 5, 1867 a violent storm struck the area. A new res­ ervoir - at that time called Reservoir #3, later renamed Reservoir #2 - was partially completed some distance up Trout Brook. Heavy rains filled the reservoir rapidly and its dam collapsed. Waters flooded down into Reservoir #l and began to seep around the upper part of the dam. The 1867 Annual Report says, "In twenty-two minutes from the first starting of the small current the whole dam was cut asunder down to its base, and all the water - about 200, 000, 000 gallons - discharged from the reservoir."

nA LIQUID WALL .... n The Hartford Courant graphically described the dam's destruction: "The dam gave way and a large stream burst out. In the valley of Trout Brook came the great mass, forming a liquid wall several feet high, rolling and tumbling like the waves of a mighty ocean .. . . The great dam is gone. What was yesterday a lake is now completely void of water with the exception of a small stream running along the bot­ tom near the center. " No lives were lost and the peculiar contour of the valley below the reservoir prevented property damage from being greater. Subsequent examinations revealed the banks of the

II reservoir contained a light gravelly soil. A firm clay, pro­ perly "puddled", should have been used. The reservoir which flooded down into Reservoir #1 was completed in 1869. The following year the Water Works put Reservoir #1 back into service. In the next few years a long dry season parched the Hart­ ford area. WaterSupplydroppedperilously. The 1871 report recommended immediate building of another reservoir. In November of that year the Water Works ordered new pumps for the Connecticut River pumping station. The water situ­ ation became more and more critical as months went on and thepumpsdidnotarrive. Lord's Hill Reservoir- which had been filled and kept available for fire fighting - was the only available source of supply. Finally in the latter part of 1873 the pumps were delivered and men set feverishly to work on the installation. In a story-book drama the West Hartford supply gave out on September 27, four hours before the pumps at the Connecticut River went into action.

NEED FOR NEW RESERVOIR This harrowing experience proved convincingly the need for a new reservoir. Work began on a third reservoir, now knownas #3, in 1875 and the work was completed in Novem­ ber of the same year. The reservoir contained some 150 milliongallons. Seth E. Marsh, President of the Board and Chief Engineer, supervised construction. The 1877 Annual Report embraced history-making news for the Water Works. For the first time in its twenty-odd years of existence the Hartford Water Works was fully self­ sustaining. Cash receipts paid all expenses , including $24,124. 14 for construction, interest on bonds, and over $9,000 in extra repairs. This left a surplus of nearly $4,000 in the treasury. The era from 1867 to 1895 incorporated the completion of the Trout Brook source of supply. Let's briefly capsule the development. Reservoir #1 was built in 1867 on Mine Brook which ran into Trout Brook. This became the distri­ buting reservoir eventually for the cluster of six reservoirs. Then Mine Brook was dammed further upstream to create Reservoir #2 which was completed in 1869. A small brook west of Reservoir #1 was dammed to make Reservoir #3, finished in 1875. However, the succeeding source of supply, Reservoir #4, is not in the same water­ shed and involves some brief explanation.

IZ A prolonged drought plagued Hartford in the early 1870's. One ofthe worst periods stretched from the summer of 1874 to the summer of 1876. The Connecticut River pumping sta­ tionoperatedfromAugust, 1874, almost every day until De­ cember. Then it ran again from January 1876 until March of the same year. Only 36 inches of rain fell in the entire year of '76. Reservoirs #2 and #3 dried up completely and only twenty-five feet of water remained in Reservoir #1. This water shortage spurred construction of Reservoir #4 outside the watershed area of the other reservoirs. Reser­ voir #4 is located at the West Hartford-New Britain-Farm­ ington junction and was by far the largest reservoir in the network. !thad a capacity equal to the combined total of the previous three.

VIEW OF RESERVOIR NO, 5 Development of the West Hartford watershed area ex­ panded rapidly in the next decade. Reservoir #4 was finish­ ed in 1879. In 1884 Reservoir #5 came into being. Mine

13 Brook was dammed between Reservoirs #1 and #2 to create this newest addition. In the same year the river pumps were altered to pump as much water in 14 hours as had previously been gained in 2 4 hours.

COMPLETION OF RESERVOIR /16 Reservoir #6 on Tumbledown Brook north of Albany Ave­ nue was completed in 1895. The following year a canal was built connecting this reservoir to #5. In 1915 a 24-inch tile pipe line supplanted the canal. Then, in 1927, a 30-inch concrete conduit augmented the tile line. Completion of Reservoir #6 marked the end. The Water Board had reaped the benefit of Trout Brook watershed to its fullest extent. Today two of the reservoirs are no longer used. Reservoir #1 serves as a power generating unit for the Filtration Plant. Reservoir #4, now known as Batterson Park Lake, was transferred to the Hartford Board of Park Commissioners in July, 1930. The other four reservoirs stand ready to be used in emergencies. They have a capa­ city of about 1-1/4 billion gallons. Frequently the reser­ voirs are used for short periods to avoid spillage waste.

THE FIRST 40 TUMULTUOUS YEARS Looking backward the first 40 years of the Hartford Water Works were tumultuous ones. Yet, men dedicated to public service worked on to bring ample supplies of clean water to our community. The early days of the Connecticut River supply had been a fight against unnecessary waste of water. President Hiram Bissell of the Water Board in 1868 called for the use of meters and "the useless waste of water would be almost entirely checked". By 1879 there were only 19 meters in use by Hartford Water Works customers; by 1884 two hundred more had been added. It was not until 1902 that the Hartford Water Works installed meters on all supply pipes and a marked decrease in consumption followed. With completion of the West Hartford watershed develop­ ment the same evils persisted: enormous waste of water by users and a continuing rapid consumption. The Water Board searched for a new source of supply. Their eyes scrutinized more closely the East Branch of the Farmington River and its tributaries. At the turn of the century the Water Works was about to enter the third phase of its history, the devel­ opment of the Farmington River and tributary streams as a water supply base.

14 STAGE THREE======WESTWARD TO THE FARMINGTON VALLEY===

The Farmington River has a romantic and interesting history. The river rises 22 miles north of the Connecticut­ Massachusetts stateline on the southerly slopes of Mount Becket of the Berkshire range. The river runs south and east 80 miles to the Connecticut River. The countryside was heavily wooded at the time of the first white settlers. This area was the hunting ground ("Greenwood") of a tribe of Algonquin Indians. These Indians were a peaceful people, friendly to the first white settlers who had made their way up river. The country is rugged but its valley fertile; numerous water falls and rapids offered opportunity for industrial power. Iron works (puddle mills) sprang up; lumber and furniture mills, hatand clothing works, and grist mills formed a core ofthrivingcommunities. Somepinetrees in the section were reputed to be 150 to 200 feet tall. After the Civil War the great western plains of our nation opened up, and industrial decadence of the upper Farmington River valley set in. At the start of the 20th century there was little manufac­ turing activity in the valley north of New Hartford. The area promised an excellent locality for water supply gathering grounds.

POSSIBILITIES PROBED Actually Hartford had been probing possibilities of the FarmingtonRiverandits tributaries as far back as 1877. In September of that year the Common Council asked the Water Board to obtain a hydraulics engineer to study the water supply potential of the Farmington River and its tributary streams. In January, 1897, the Connecticut Assembly amended the Water Board's charter and granted the right to Hartford "to take and hold" the south and west branch of Salmon Brook, a tributary entering the Farmington just north of Tariffville. From 1899-1901 there was a serious drought. The clamor for increased water supply redoubled and Salmon Brook sources were studied more closely. Here, they felt, a res­ e rvoir could store 2-1 /2 billion gallons. However puckish Mother Nature turned around and gave Hartford several year·s of ample rainfall and public demand for additional water supply bases lessened. The proposed Salmon Brook project died.

15 No future provisions for water supply shaped up until the spring of 1909. Daily average demand at the time was about 7 million gallons . But, when abundant annual rains slacken­ ed, public opinion again demanded new sources of water. Accordingly a bill was introduced in the General Assembly asking authority to develop Nepaug River and several small­ er streams, all tributaries to the Farmington River.

NEPAUG RIVER Nepaug River has its headwaters in hills several miles south of Winsted. The river flows southeasterly about ten miles, joining the Farmington just north of Collinsville. The Board envisioned a reservoir of some 9 billion gal­ lons to which a sparsely populated watershed area of 32 square miles would contribute. With this hoped-for addition the Board estimated sufficient water supplies until 1935. However, the Nepaug development bumped through a rough trip in the legislature. The proposed plan would re­ sult in diversion of from 5. 4% to 8. 4% of available water supply to downstream mill owners. Diverting water from a power stream is like taking coal from the stock-pile of a steam-run plant. As a result, in spite of Hartford's press­ ing need, the 1909 General Assembly refused to grant au­ thority to construct the water works. Before the next session of the General Assembly con­ vened, city authorities and riparian owners got together. They agreed upon building a so-called Compensating Reser­ voir. This reservoir would store flood waters during high water periods, and return them to the stream during low water periods. With this effected compromise the 1911 General As sem­ bly passed a bill authorizing construction for Nepaug Reser­ voir to be located in the towns of Canton, Burlington, and New Hartford. Work involved building three dams, one of concrete masonry about 600 feet long and 112 feet high; and two earth dams with masonry core walls. The larger of the two (Phelps Brook Dam) would be 1, 250 feet long and have a maximum height of 67 feet.

COMPENSATING RESERVOIR Also in the plans was a Compensating Reservoir to be built in Barkhamsted and New Hartford. This reservoir, with a capacity of 3 billion gallons, would have an earth dam 820 feet long and 75 feet maximum height. The plans includ-

16 ed a slow sand filtration plant at the West Hartford reser­ voir works. The entire project, costing $4,250, 000, joined the Hartford Water Works' growing system in February 6, 1922.

SPILLWAY AT NEPAUG DAM

Manager Caleb Mills Saville directed the building of the Nepaug project. He joined the Hartford Water Works in 1912aschiefengineer. Six years later the Board named him Manager. Mr. Saville guided to completion two great pro­ jects in the Farmington River development program: the Nepaug and Barkhamsted supply bases. His is a distin­ guished chapter in Hartford's water supply history. World War I delayed construction at Nepaug. In 1917 the disastrous G. Fox & Company department store fire severe­ ly challenged the city's water facilities. Three and one -half million gallons of water poured down on one of the worst fires in Hartford's memory. At one point the be1eagured city was pouring 600, 000 gallons an hour on the fire.

A LANDMARK PASSES Shortly after World War I a nostalgic phase of the Water

17 Work's network came to an end. The Hartford Fire Insur­ ance Companybought the Lord's Hill Reservoir site in 1919, and a landmark of earlier days soon passed out of existence.

THE WEST HARTFORD FILTER PLANT. AT LEFT THE FOUNTAIN

OF WATER IS THE AERATOR, A PHASE OF WATER PURIFICATION. Building great dams to impound water is only part of the problem of supplying water to the public. Just as essential is the purification of water before this prime necessity of man - water - flows through the distribution system to our homes and factories. On February 6, 1922, the new West Hartford Filter Plant began sending filtered water into the network. Eight filter beds purified the water by a process called "slow sand filtration". In this method water slowly seeps through beds of specially prepared sand, one half acre in extent. In 1922 eight filter beds yielded .a rated ca­ pacity of 20 million gallons a day. Today, eighteen filter beds h.ave a rated capacity of 45 million gallons a day. Another landmark of the old water supply days passed away in 1922. The old Connecticut River Pumping Station near Riverside Park was razed. The new Nepaug Reservoir sent the faithful old veteran to the sidelines. As an addi­ tional reason the Hartford Park Board wanted to add the land to Riverside Park.

18 BIRTH OF THE DISTRICT======THE BARKHAMSTED PROJECT======

Construction of Barkhamsted Reservoir, the fourth major step in the Hartford Water Bureau's history, loomed in the mid-20's. The 1926Annual Report cautioned that at the cur­ rent rate of draft, some 16 million gallons a day, the limit of the Nepaug water supply would be reached in ten years. The Report went on, "Based on experience at Nepaug Reser­ voir, at least four years should be provided for construction work ... six to ten years longer for a reservoir to 'season' ... Because of these facts it seems desirable that immediate steps be taken. The Board of Water Commissioners has ta­ ken steps to acquire land in the upper portion of the East Branch of the Farmington River in Barkhamsted and Hart­ land. 11 InAprill929 Manager Saville warned that a period of or­ dinary drought could cause serious damage in view of the tremendous daily water consumption. Not only would the quality of water suffer, he said, but also Hartford 1 s rapid growth was making the water mains inadequate for prope.r fire protection. A bill for construction of a reservoir and dam at Bark­ hamsted appeared before the 1929 General Assembly. The bill sailed into a tempest of controversy and was defeated.

CHARLES A. GOODWIN During these years a prominent Hartford attorney and civ­ ic -minded leader, Charles A. Goodwin, was calling for the creation of a "Metropolitan District. 11 Mr. Goodwin spent many years of active leadership in the District until his death on October 7, 1954. Hartford and five surrounding towns, West Hartford, Wethersfield, Windsor, Newington and Bloom­ field, would ally themselves, in Mr. Goodwin's plan, to han­ dle the common problems of water supply, sewerage and re­ gionalplanning. This, of course, entailed the proposed Dis­ trict's absorption of the Hartford Water Works. A bitter fight ensued over the merits of Mr. Goodwin's plan. Mr. Goodwin summed up his position in a letter to the Hartford Times, ''Hartford's water supply is an achievement of which we should be proud but it is already serving a great part of the area (the proposed member towns of the District). The area should not only receive the benefit but also assist in the burden (of support) and, in return, share in the management."

19 In the November elections of 1929 the Metropolitan Dis­ trict was born. Hartford, Newington, Wethersfield, Wind­ sor and Bloomfield joined together to form a common agency. The following year, on July l, 1930, the Hartford Water Works and those in the member towns became part of the functions of the Metropolitan District. Concurrent with the birth of the District the pressing need for a new water supply base continued. "If authority for the creation of Barkhamsted Reservoir is not given at once, 11 Manager Saville stated in April, 1930, "the reservoir can­ not be completed before 1941. By that time the District water needs will have swollen to 30 million gallons a day."

AERIAL VIEW OF COMPENSATING RESERVOIR IN THE FOREGROUND, AND

SAVILLE DAM AND BARKHAMSTED RESERVOIR IN THE BACKGROUND,

zo After much public controversy the East Branch Water. Supply Act passed the General Assembly in May, 1931, and the machinery for building Barkhamsted Reservoir and Saville Dam set into motion.

COMPENSATION IN KIND To compensate for the fact that the 53. 8 square mile Barkhamsted watershed was superimposed on the watershed area, tributary to the Compensating Reservoir, the District had to agree to build an additional reservoir capable of im­ pounding about 6-l /2 billion gallons of water. This new reservoir was to be ready for service by January 1, 1955, a date since extended to January 1, 1959. Until these new works were completed the District contracted to discharge 13. 6 billion gallons annually (about 37 million gallons a day) from Barkhamsted Reservoir into the East Branch Compen­ sating Reservoir for the benefit of the downstream users. In 1940 the huge Saville Dam took shape in the Barkham­ sted hills . The dam is more than a 1 /3 of a mile long and rises 137 feet above the river bed. The dam is built of earth with a concrete core; a 40-foot roadway traverses the top.

EAST HARTFORD AND ROCKY HILL In the early 40's the District added two member towns, East Hartford and Rocky Hill. In 1941 the East Hartford water supply system was transferred to the District. Two small reservoirs, located in Glastonbury, with a combined capacity of 13 million gallons supplied East Hartford at the time. Over a period of years the District had built four mains across Bulkeley Bridge to supply District water. In 1954 two new pipe lines were laid underneath the bed of the Connecticut River to give increased supply to this town whose water demands include those of United Aircraft, one of the largest airplane engine manufacturers in the world. This new supply line, incidentally will supplant the unsightly ex­ posed main across the bridge. When Rocky Hill came into the District in 1943, this new member's water supply system was transferred to the District. In 1941 four new filter beds had to be pres sed into service before they "ripened". Ordinarily filter beds take sever,al months after they are put into service to come to their peak efficiency or 11 ripening". But the high consumption of water forced these beds into immediate use. The District began

21 adding chlorine as a precautionary measure. Shortly after­ wards the United States Government, as a wartime action, ordered all public water supplies to be chlorinated and the Water Bureau has retained chlorination as a routine proce­ dure .

GREATEST GROWTH IN PAST 25 YEARS By the end of 1954 some 345, 000 people used District water. This was afar cry from the 20,000 population of Hart­ ford in 1855 with only a few thousand customers. Significantly, the greatest growth in water services in the District has oc­ curred in the past twenty-five years, 1930-1955.

UPPER GATE HOUSE AT SAVILLE DAM. TODAY AT HOGBACK======THE WEST BRANCH DEVELOPMENT======

In the World War II years and those that followed, the District's water demands were even more greatly accel­ erated under the impetus of a tremendous industrial boom. The District sought approval for its plan to impound the floodwaters of the West Branch of the Farmington River and carry the water through a tunnel to Barkhamsted Reser­ voir. History repeated itself. Again there were sharp public debates about the necessity or wisdom of tapping new sources of water supply. A bill authorizing the creation of "Hogback" Dam and Reservoir found its way before the 1945 General Assembly. The name "Hogback" - at one time called "Hogs­ back" - a.rose from the peculiar terrain of the countryside where the projected damsite and reservoir in the towns of Hartland and Colebrook were to be located. The 1945 Gen­ eral Assembly turned down the bill. The Hogback proposal came up again before the 1947 Gen­ eral Assembly and again the bill was defeated. During the next several months the District and the bill's opponents reached a compromise over certain controversial points. As a result the 1949 Assembly passed a bill authorizing construction of the Hogback project.

CONSTRUCTION OF HOGBACK DAM Several years of necessary planning and design work for the construction of this massive dam and reservoir passed. On Wednesday, July 20, 1955, the District entered into a contract of over four million dollars for the construction of Hogback Dam. On the next page is a map showing the Dis­ trict' s water supply system. Afew years hence Hogback Reservoir will add its 6-1/2 billion gallons capacity to our water supply network. To­ morrow will also undoubtedly bring fresh supplyproblems. Once each generation, it would seem from Hartford's water supply history, new supply bases must be found.

23 , , , , --..... _... ------0 WINSTED I I WATERSHED ,--~ . SZ SQ. MI. \ N .,•' I 'I I'

RESERVOIR CAPACITIES , BARKHAMSTEQ NEPAUG 8.!5 BILLION GAL. ' , \ _,., ,. .... --. .\ BARKHAMSTED 3Z . 5 BILLION GAL. .._ .. ., "'·' '-~ ... __ ,--- HOGBACK S.5 BILLION GAL. 0 E. HARTLAND '

ui Ill < I

J 0 0 WESTFIELD CJRANBV 0 ,- SOUTHWICK 1 ~ l HARTFORD i WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM THE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT 1955 CONNECTICUT RIVER GLASTONBURY 0~~==--~==--•' MILES SECTION OF THE SOUTHWEST TRANSMISSION MAIN CONTRACT, DESIGNED TO

INCREASE WATER PRESSURES IN THE SOUTHWEST AREA OF THE DISTRICT,

PIPE IS 54 INCH CONDUIT, LARGEST YET LAID BY THE DISTRICT. THE DISTRICT HEADQUARTERS' BUIL.DINQ AT 115 BROAD STREET, COR­

NER OF FARMINGTON AVENUE, THIS HOUSES THE ENGINEERING AND CL.ERI­

CAL. FORCES OF THE DISTRICT'S WATER BUREAU, BUREAU OF PUBL.IC WORKS

AND REGIONAL. PL.ANNING COMMISSION, AL.SO HERE ARE THE EXECUTIVE

AND ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL. OF THE METROPOL-ITAN DISTRICT, THE

DISTRICT COMMISSION HOL.DS ITS MONTHL.Y MEETINGS HERE, CUSTOMAFU­

L.Y ON THE EVENING OF THE FIRST MONDAY OF EACH MONTH. 'COMMISSIONERS OF THE METROPOLITAN DISTRICT .AND MEMBERS OF THE WATER BUREAU

Manning W. Heard, Chairman, the District Board John T. Welles, Chairman, the Water Bureau

Edward N. Allen Hartford * A . Hamilton Anderson Bloomfield John M. Bailey Hartford * Henry Budney Newington Ernest E. Carpenter Bloomfield Maurice R. Cronan Wethersfield * Morton A. Elsner Hartford Manning W. Heard Hartford * Herman P . Kopplemann Hartford Stanley B. Loucks Windsor Charles E . Mahoney Windsor * Edward J. McDonough Hartford * William F . Middlemass Newington Felix Montano Rocky Hill * William H. Mortensen Hartford Howard B . Noble East Hartford Milton H. Richman Hartford Thomas J . Spellacy Hartford Cedric G. Thompson Newington * Arthur A. Watson Wethersfield John T. Welles Wethersfield * George E. Wood East Hartford * Maurice H. Pease, Representative from * New Britain

* --Members of Water Bureau

STAFF William A. D . Wurts District Manager W . Arthur Countryman, Jr. District Counsel Gerard R. d'Avignon District Clerk Charles A. Spoerl District Treasurer Warren A. Gentner Deputy Manager & Chief Engineer, Water Bureau Richard Dillon Registrar, Water Bureau

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