Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-01-03
FACTS AND FIGURES.
THE CITY'S WATER SUPPLY AS TT
 SHOULD BE.

We Need 1,5OO,OOO More Gallons a
 Day and Hop Brook VIII Supply
 Oniy TwO-ThirdS of That Quantity
 Quassapaug Has No Feeders and
 Only Small Area Of Watershed
 Bantam Lake Can Be Tapped With
 out Much Trouble.
 After an exhaustive and careful in- vestigatiOn in which the good and bad points of Hop brook and Quassapaug have been studied, we can arrive at no other conclusion than that the supply of water which either is capable of furnish ing would be entirely inadequate to meet the needs of the city, and there is a req sonable doubt whether their united forces would satisfy the city's needs a few years hence.
 From the evidence of four of every five inhabitants living in the Hop brook dis trict, as well as from personal observa- tion and knowledge. we know that there are several months in the year when the stream is practically dry. In many places 1t is not more than two or three feet wide, and as an old farmer ep- igrammatically puts it, if a yoke of cat tie drank from the brook at certain points it would run dry for half a day. But let us accept the figures prepared by the engineer and water commissioners and we find that would not begin to satisfy the city's needs. The capacity of the proposed reservoir is estimated at 400, ,O0O.O0O gal Ions and the brook will supply daily 1,OO4, ,O0O gallons. A few weeks ago President Welton of the water board made a statement that the pumping capacity from the Mad river, which is 0,00O gallons a day, should be doubled. By this we understand that the present supply falls short at least 800, ,000 gal Ions day of the actual needs The Hop brook supply, allowing the engineers estimate to be correct, is at the most 1.004 GOO gallons a day. The question naturally arises, where are we to look for the other 496, ,000 gallons that Presi- dent WeltOn says we must have? Of course we could still pump from Mad river, but one of the very reasons why we need an addition to our water supply is that we may do away with the hor- rible compound they pump from the Mad river and sell as water. Another claim made by the commissioners is that the extra half million gallons a day could be drawn from the supply of 400 1000, ,00O gallons in the reservoir. Very true. but by a little ficur- ing it will be found that if this was done the reservoir would be a dry basin in 800 days. To offset this argument the commissioners say that they draw upon Mad river only in the dry season, about two months during the summer. To | this we would say that the consumption | of water increases with the growth of the city and from past experience we know that in twenty years million and a half gallons day added to the present water supply of the city would hardly meet the demands. About that time the taxpayers would be saddled with | another debt of a quarter of a million dollars. or we would take a step back ward and begin again to pump the pu- trid flesh of animals from the Mad river.
 In regard to Quassapaug people are apt to be deceived. The lake is a splen- did body of pure water and the pity is that there is not enough of it. 1t has no feeders and depends for it's supply upon live springs and small area of water shed. During the summer of 1886 when the Southford paper mill was in opera tion the lake was lowered several feet. And even last summer when there was of of Water "ate from hpo the '"I lake eSTe5s Was practically nothing and could easily be taken away by a six inch pipe. The evaporation from Quassapaug is enor- nous. If the gentlemen who own the lake and its privileges and who make great claims as to it's capacity are sincere in their claims, let them open the sluice- gate, draw off six or eight feet of water and then see how long it will take for the lake to replenish itself. That would be practical test. But even this test should be made twice, in the winter and summer seasons, before the city would accept the lake as it's water supply.
 The suggestion made by the DEMOCRAT that possibly Bantam lake offered a solution of the water problem has gained ground and is meeting with universal favor, A representative of this paper has been over the ground and we speak understandingly. The lake is from four to five miles long, near ly a mile in width, and has a depth of from ten to fifty feet. It has magnifi- cent watershed, is supplied by three or more unusually large streams and is also fed by natural springs. The water is nearly if not quite as pure as that in Quassapaug. The lake could be tapped at it's lower extremity with but little trouble. A cut of from ten to twenty feet deep for about one-eighth of a mile from the lake and there is clear sailing down through beautiful valley to the site of the proposed reservoir at Hop brook About five additional miles of pipe would be necessary which at rough estimate would cost about S125 ,OOO. To offset this the immense dam containing ,O00 cubic yards of masonry which is included in the Hop brook estimate would not have to be built and thousands of dollars in land damages would be saved. Competent judges declare that the expense would be little if any greater than the plan proposed by the comm1s- sioners, while the supply would be so great that the question of water for the city would be decided forever,
 The Bones of Columbus.