Norwich bulletin., 1911-01-30
Report of Water Commissioners
 Gives Chance For Comparison
Facts and Figures Relative Jordan Brook Stony Brook and Gardner Lake to be Submitted to City Meet ing Friday Night-Three More Propositions for Each Source Advantages and Idea of Cost of Water Rights Set Forth by Engineers.

large portion of the water used has come from Mohegan lake in accord ance with an emergency agreement with the park commission. This lake was never designed for use as water supply. It has been of inestima ble value to the city in this emergency, put US use as feature of the park Is inconsistent with it's regular use as a part of our water supply.
 Cost of Pumping.
 A pumping station with two electric pumps having a combined capacity of one million gallons in twenty-f four hours has been installed on Trading cove brook and connected with cur pipe system at the corner of West Main and Durham streets by six thou sand seven hundred feet of twelve inch pipe. This station and equipment is designed to supply the deficiency in our water supply until a permanent addi- tion is obtained.
 The watershed of Trading cove brook at this point is nine square miles. The size of the watershed and the popula- tion near the brook and it's branches makes the danger of the water being contaminated much greater than in the case of small watershed like that of Jordan brook, where there are no houses near the brook or it's branches. The expense of preventing the exist erca of sources of danger is much smaller on 8 small watershed.
 While it is impossible to determine the aB'cunt of water that will have to be obtained the coming year from Trading cove brook. and consequently impossible to tell what the expense will be il is estimated at sS,250 based on pumping one hundred fifty million gal Ions, or $5o per million gallons.
 + less amount is pumped the ex- rense will be greater per million gall and if Y1p V panse will be less per million gallons.
 The most important conditions to be considered in selecting a water supply are:
 l. Quality of the water.
 ?. Safety of the water from acci- dental contamination.
 3. Quantity of water available.
 4. Elevation of the brook above mean tide.
 5. Cost.
 6. Capacity for future extension.
 1. Quality and safety are considered separately, because the water of ] stream may be ordinarily of excellent quality, and vet be in constant dan- ger of cCntanljDatiO
 We believe the water of Jordan brook to be of excellent quality. Practically the whole valley is wooded. Cultivat- ed fields are substantially confined to the borders of the watershed. There is very little swampy land The water shed on the whole for water supply purposes is better than the watersheds of either F'aifVieW or Meadow brook. The absence of cultivated land and pasturing near the reservoir site makes it superior to Fairview, and the very much smaller swamp area makes it better than Meadow brook. Safety.
 2. Under the head of fisafety the pro- posed Jordan brook reservoir site stands high. There are no houses, ex- cept near the margin of the watershed to endanger the water. The estimate of $290,000 calls for acquiring over five hundred acres of land, which would be kept free of everything dangerous. The com parativeiy small area of the water shed makes adequate protection easy 1 The location is one in which the pop ulation is diminishing rather than in- creaSing.
 Quantity Available. | 3. The watershed is larger than that oe Meadow brook and more than dou- ble that of F'airview. We believe the l character of the watershed is such as to yield as much water in proportion to it's area as our present watersheds The amount available for our use ir connection with our present supply de- bends on the size of the pipe used and l the size of the reservoir built. The size of pipe recommended is twenty inches. which with small dam designed for simply diverting the flow 1 of Jordan brook into Fairview reser- vodr would enable us to get about fouI i million gallons da fly in fres,let times and in our opinion give us an average 1 of half a million gallons daily through the year. If we had had this amount coming into our reservoir the past i year we would have avoided the very 1 serious situation which has existed. 1 If a reservoir was built with 8. Stor. 1 age capacity of 100,000,000 gallons, WI estimate that it would yield 8 depend. l able supply of S00,000 gallons daily
 and in connection with our present 1 works would last until we were usinf 1 20 per cent. more water than now. Il i the large reservoir was built holding l 330,o00,000 gallons, the estimate Is l., l 200, 900 gallons dependable daily supply and used in connection with our pres. 1 ent works would last until we werc l using about 40 per cent. more watel ! than now, or until we were supplying ] 40 per cent. more people than now. 1 When we need more water than thc 1 above amounts it can be obtained fr l tlfe vicinity of Jordan brook. 1 Elevation Most Favorable. l A. The elevation of Jordan brook 1. 1 one most favorable for the city's use
 
 1 above mean tide. A much greater l height would be a disadvantage, be l clause the pressure would be too grea' l on the lowest part of the city. Thi{ l elevation enables the use of smaller 1 pipe than would be required if the brook were much lower. This eleva- 1 ton makes it possible to discharge Jor- ! dan brook water directly into Meadow 1 brook or Fairview.
 l The elevation of Jordan brook is such that branch pipe could connect ] the main pipe with one of the sixteen i inch mains leading from Fairvew res rervoir By the addition of some pipes and gates a part of the Jordan brook 1 water could be used for high service