REPORT OF THE COCHITUATE WATER BOARD, TO THE CITY COUNCIL OF BOSTON, FOR THE YEAR 1854. BOSTONIA BOSTON: 1855. J. H. EASTBURN, CITY PRINTER. REPORT. OFFICE OF THE COCHITUATE WATER BOARD, To the CITY COUNCIL of Boston. February 1, 1855. The Cochituate Water Board, in conformity with the provisions of the City Ordinance, respectfully present their Annual Report for the year 1854, and also transmit the several reports of the City Engineer and Water Registrar, made to them pursuant to the same ordinance, to which they would beg leave to refer the Council for full details of the state of the Water Works, and of the various transactions of the year relating to them. The Water Board feel gratified in being able to state that the general condition of all the Works, comprehending the structures at the Lake, the aqueduct, reservoirs and distributing mains and pipes, is quite satisfactory. The repairs on the brick Aqueduct, which have been brought to the notice of the City Council, in previous reports of the Water Board as being in progress, are now completed; and various leaks and fissures, some of which had existed from the laying of the works, and had been a source of anxiety, from their endangering the stability of the structure, by causing the foundation to be undermined or washed away, have been, it is believed, effectually and permanently stopped. The subject of the accretions in the pipes, which has also formed a considerable topic of former reports, has continued to attract the attention of the Board. Our previous anticipations in relation to their future progress, viz. that their rate of increase would diminish, -seems to be, to a great extent, confirmed. The researches and experiments of Professor Horsford, instituted for the purpose of ascertaining their precise origin, and of discovering, if possible, the means of preventing it, have been still further pursued; and are, as we hope, now nearly and successfully completed. By a reference to a communication from him hereto annexed, it will be seen that in his opinion the cause of the accretions has been most satisfactorily ascertained, and a confident expectation, founded on the results of actual experiment, is expressed of the possi bility of effectually protecting the metal from them. The extension of the works by laying distributing and service pipes in new streets, &c., has been continued during the year, wherever it was called for, and when the rule originally adopted by the Board, requiring the assessment of a water rate equal to six per cent. on the cost, was complied with. The operations chargeable to this head have been much diminished, the amount of distributing pipe laid having been 3,976 feet less than the previous year. The length of Distributing Pipes of 4, 6, and 12 inches diameter laid during the year is 9,014 feet, and 19 stop-cocks were affixed. The whole length of pipes of 4 inches and upwards now laid, including hydrant branches and bends, is nearly 1103 miles. The whole number of Stop Cocks is 960. The number of Service Pipes laid during the year is 659, the length of which is 24,893 feet. The whole number is 17,999. The number of Hydrants established during the year is 25. The whole number is 1,210. The whole number of leaks repaired in pipes of 4 inches and upwards was 74. The last year it was 85. The whole number in those of less than 4 inches was 280. The last year it was 260. The supply of water from Lake Cochituate has been amply sufficient for all the public, domestic, and manufacturing uses to which it has been applied, notwithstanding a greatly increased consumption, of more than a million and a half gallons daily, and also the long and severe drought which prevailed during the summer and part of the fall, by which the lake was deprived of the supply usually received during that period. The gates at the outlet dam were closed on the 30th of May, the water then being 7 feet 3%1⁄2 inches deep above the flume. The water was gradually drawn off for consumption in the City, and also lost by evaporation, with scarcely any compensating supply from rain, until the 10th day of November, when it stood at 2 feet 11⁄2 inches above the flume, or 5 feet 1 inch below the point where it was when the gates were closed, and nearly 2 feet lower than it had been before since the construction of the works. Since that time it has been rising, and on the 1st of January it was 6 feet above the flume. The quantity delivered at the Brookline Reservoir, and brought into the City, was 3,614,213,335 wine gallons, being a daily average for the year of 9,902,000 gallons. |