Norwich bulletin., 1910-03-31
THE WATER SYSTEM OF NORWICH
Dr. Bunnell Before the Central Baptist Mens League Claims Stony Brook is Best Available Site-Improve- ment Needed.

1 first urgent appeal to further increase l the supply, the families served having
 increased from 2.11s ethe number when Meadow brook was first diverted 10
 Fafrview) to 3.626. and this appeal was repeated with ever increasing urgency. In 1894 the full rights to all the water of Meadow brook were acquired by payment of $5,000 to the F'ulls com pany. The actual happenings since 1894 are quickly summed up. Takers | of water became more numerous and
 mains were extended, but no new sup ply was secured; only the Fairview dam was raised Is inches to impound
 more water in spring. yet despite this l one year the experiment of driving wells about the reservoir was made. pressing need. Then in 19O3-1so4 the | size of Fairview reservoir was in- creased by again raising the dam this | time 45 inches above the top of the ed its present dimensions of 590 feet l width, 19 feet depth. 45o.oo0,000 ca pacity. But in the same year the
 mains were carried to Yantic bridge; making in all 50 miles of pipe and 5000 families supplied against the 2.11s | families and 33 miles of pipe in 1881. | and all with no increase of available rainfall
 Saving from Meters Small.
 Thus has the story of the past
 brought us up to the present With | the demand for service constantly in creasing the commissioners are do- ing their best with their limited sup ply-factories, stables and other large
 users have long been metered and the work has begun of motoring all wa l ter used. Sounds easy. doesn't it? Meter 4.0o0 service pipes at s1o each l means $40,000. If the life of a meter is fifteen years. this means an ex- pense of $2.700 per year, and at the end of that time there will be only 1000 worn-out meters to show. The same sum would pay four per cent on l start toward developing a new source of supply.
 pr. Bunnell stated his belief that the saving from meters was small at the best and that in adopting meters the commissioners are merely postpor- | ing the difficulty, paying high for h. cense on life which is at best but tenn porary.
 And now for the future: Shall we go on trusting Providence or shall we seek new source of supply? To- day it is undoubtedly cheaper to truse Providence, but what of tomorrow? Yet on this question Norwich is divid- ed. and the struggle has amounted at times to a wordy war. but has left the economic problem undecided. The best engineering advice agrees with little lay figuring in loudly declaiming that the limit of development of Fair view has been reached. Of the an- nual rainfall over our watershed un- der the existing conditions of evapora- ton and percolation about 50 per cent. reaches the reservoir; that is two and one-quarter million gallons per day co. A. Alien). The highest esti- daily in 1898 (that of W. H. Richards) is just under two million gallons which at first glance would seme to leave safe margin. But the records show full pond from January to April each year. while the total May to Decem- Der collectible rainfall of ordinary Cry years has amounted only to S1,000. .00n -i e., S1,000.000 in 240 days. Thi3. added to the 45o.000.o00 gallons in storage at full pond gives 31,00o.0o0 gallons. At 2.ooo,0 900 gallons per day the supply would last nearly nine
 season. But if the pond does not i'll there is less water stored to last out
 the dry half of the year. In 1905 the
 highest point was s5 1-2 inches dowr, amounts to but sfS.ooooOo gallons which with the s1.o00.o0o gallons coll lectible from May to December. aver age is less than seven months supply. feet down, meaning a supply on hand of but 5o,00o.0 .00o gallons-2s5 ,00o.o 900 net draft in seven months. In 1908 to 1909 there was net draft Of s4s.- 100000 gallons in eight months, luck fly. however, from a fuli pond. It only needs a far from impossible com bination of seasons to drain our reser- voir dry.
 Some comparisons will be instrue tive:
 In 1900 Danbury was supplying 7.soo people per square mile watershed. Hartford was supplying $500 people per square mile watershed.
 New London was supplying 4,e0O people per square mile watershed. Bridgeport was supplying 1850 peo- pie per square mile watershed.
 NAxxr EI0xF people per square mile watershed Stamford was supplying 512 people per square mile watershed.
 Norwich was supplying S,700 people | per square mile watershed.
 We appear to possess hardly as re- liable supply as our neighbors Time to Seek Another Source. It would be physically possible by I increasing the height of the present dam to collect all of the collectible average rainfall; but any capital in vested in extra inches on the dam l would only be working in the wettest l seasons In average dry seasons thess l extra inches would be of no use at all. Clearly. to make the invested cap | ital work to the best advantage a plan. should be built for minimum rath-- than for maximum conditions: To | erect a dam sufficient to retain the | rainfall of the wettest year of a dec ade is to invest capital in business ! which passes nine annual dividends iiI | the decade. Generally speaking, no watershed should be selected for q t-
 velopment whose minimum rainfall is not adequate. And the coroliary is | that when once a city has grown so l large that the minimum on Its water | shed is inaedquate, no time should be | lost in seeking another source of sup ply. The commissioners' report of 1898 | mentions having examined all possi- b1e sources within eight miles from town and deciding that Stony brook | in Montville was most suitable. A mill. dam site and thirty acres were 1 purchased for $1,600. The 1899 re- ports include reports of Chandler & | Palmer and W. H. Richards on possi- b1e sources. Both reports hold that 1t was impracticable to increase Fair l view reservoir: that Meadow brook | valley was of such a swampy and pea | ty character that the labor of clean | ing or covering it would outweigh the | additional value. Other sources are mentioned, only to be dismissed be- l cause of small watershed or vested ! rights of mills and dwellings Stony | brook, however, has a watershed of 2.3