The Newtown bee., 1890-07-25
Water For NeWtoWn.

Newtown's lack of system of water works has been the subject of deal of discussion, but no definite results have ever been reached, save that, in order to supply the Street with a good pressure, \ storage reservoir must be built on the top of Taunton hill and water pumped into 1t from Taunton lake. This would entail considerable expense, too much, it appears, for NewtOwn capitalists. But it must be admitted that the project does not meet with unanimous and instant fa- vor on the part of many who, although they would be greatly benefited, would also find it necessary to aid in various ways, financial and otherwise. The cost of water works such as NewtOwn would require would not be enormous. The To- cation has been twice visited by Civil En- gineers Hull & Palmer of Bridgeport, who have surveyed the pond and the hill and who, at their last visit in the Spring of 1887, prepared the following:
 ESTIMATE OF VIEWPOINT WATER WORKS: Pump, boiler and stock, all set, sl5oO Foundations for pump house and well 300 Pump house, 20x2i, l6-foot posts, 32j 1900 feet S-inch cement pipe, 1850 Masonry for reservoir, 9i2 cubic yardf, 5G52 Rock excavation at reservoir, 2l32 Earth excavation at reservoir, 3l9 500 feet 6inch pipe, BOO Ten hydrants at S32, 320 One eight-inch gate P Two six inch gates, 30 Rock excavation, trenches, 600 Engineering and incidental, 250
 Total, $lG,305
 This estimate includes simply piping from the reservoir to Main street and To- eating on this six-in.h main ten hy- drants. No estimate is made for piping side streets. Neither are possible land damages taken into consideration, al- though owners of land through which the pipes would pass and on which the reservoir would stand should be public spirited enough to donate the little land required. The reservoir would, accord ing to this, be only 1900 feet from the pond and an eight-inch cement pipe would carry an abundance of water. The storage reservoir would be 100 feet square, the bottom being of concrete, with side walls of masonry banked on the outside with earth. The water would
 be about 10 feet deep and the capacity of
 the reservoir would, therefore, be about 100000 gallons, an abundant supply
 Allowing 30 gallons q day for each per
 son using the water Ca high estimate fol
 a country town) there would be at leas
 10 days supply in the reservoir, for no l500 persons would use the water. B,
 pumping one or two days week, tn reservoir could be kept full without diff : culty. From the storage reservoir, abou
 Il mile of six-inch pipe, probably cemen
 pipe here, would convey it to am
 through the village. The engineers es inmates are for Sl6.000; S3000 or $400 more ought to give every facility fo supplying Sandy Hook, including nun ! Der of hydrants. A stock company wit capital of $20,000 would doubtless b amply sufficient for all purposes. No comes the important question-W ould
 payg The expense of maintaining th
 plant, when once established, is nt
 great. Ten per cent on the capital stoc T is S2000 n year and it certainly ougi P not to be difficult to induce n sufiicieI
 number of citizens to take water to r,
 ceive at least so much. After payil
 current expenses and the salaries of u q necessary officials, fair profit for u l. stockholders would still be left of this D. per cent. There is no doubt that wat ,e works do pay elsewhere. In New NJ a- ford, for instance, there was Il strenuo IT, opposition at first and it was far fro ID easy to obtain subscriptions, but nc g, heavy dividends are being paid and tho e. who own the stock 'sHaven't any for sa es thank you, New Milford has be r. greatly benefited by it's water works ye more ways than one. And again, a go es supply of water Is of incalculzble val ID in case of fire. Had hydrant been s ce uated near the Newtown depot, with s, q ficlent hose at hand, when it was set
 fire by lightning, It might easily In a. been saved,