Waterbury evening Democrat., 1891-09-28
A eREA1 RLuNpER MAY BE MADE.
Hop Brook and 0uassapaug as a Reporter
Found Them.

Hop Brook and Quassapaug as n Reporter
Found Them.
If the members of the court of COM
mon council would only visit Hop
brook and Quassapaug before the fall
rains set in there would be no need of
paying big money for an investigation
of these sources of supply by an exper-
fenced hydraulic engineer as proposed,
for the very good reason that there is no
supply to investigate worth speaking OF.
A representative of the DEMOCRAT WIS.,
tied each place yesterday and was as
tonished to think that proposition to
bond the city in half a million dollars
to secure the water from these sources
has ever been seriously considered.
The fountain head of Hop brook was
found to be a mud hole reeking in filth,
the water stagnant and rotten. At one
point there was nothing but a dry bed
and at no part of the brook was there a
freshet. AT point near where it was
proposed to locate the reservoir the
brook was damned and an imprOvised
sluice was placed in the center of the
bed in order to measure the flow.
Every drop of water running in the
brook passed through a space three
inches wide and one deep!
Quassapaug was next visited, and it
was found that not a drop of water was
was several inches below the natural
outlet, showing that the supply is not
equal to the losses by evaporation.
This condition of affairs is not in &C
cord with the reports made by the board
of water commissioners, but bears the
DEMOCRAT out in the claim made last
winter that the supply from Hop brook
or Quassapaug or both is totally made
quate to the needs of Waterbury. We
| = 4. a. r.
disprove the above statements, and
would suggest that the mayor and mem
bers of the council at once begin an in
vestigation for themselves. Quassapaug
is a delusion and snare and Hop brook
is fully as bad.
| There is no comparison between these
places and the Mad river. The latter has
bore up wonderfully we'll under the
drought and supplies more water in {
day than Quassapaug and Hop brook are
capable of doing in a month, wlthou
greatly reducing the supply in the lake
Reports from all parts of the state
show that the drought is general.
Hartford has only water enough lief
in the reservoirs to last about fourteen
days. At the end of that time if no rair
comes the city will have to resort to the
pumps again.
The Pandamaram reservoir, one of thu
i sources of Danbury's water supply, il
very low and the water is dull coppe
color, unfit to drink. There has been
danger of Il water famine recently, a
there has been a scarcity all summer
The hat factories and other establish
ments using water i'll quantities have
been restricted in its use, and but littl
has been wasted within the past few
weeks and the situation is a serious one
Shelton borough is threatened with
water famine, the like of which it ha
not experienced in years. The larg
reservoirs never were known to be 81
low as at present.
Bridgeport is on the verge of a waite
famine, and if good. heavy rainstorn
does not come inside of twenty day
there is no possible way by which tn
present dearth of water can be averted
The three supply reservoirs, Ok stream
Trumbull and Horse tavern, are dry t.
the very bottom. The Island brook dis
tributing reservoir is so low that it ca
hardly hold out two weeks longer.
Norwalk borough has exhausted it
supply and pipe will be put in connect
ing with the South Norwalk system
which is well supplied.
In Meriden the supply is very scant
and the situation, the Republican says
is critical.