WATER SYSTEM PROFILE: City of Woburn Water System Woburn, Massachusetts

Abstract

In May of 1871, the then Town of Woburn, under an Act of the legislature, began the planning and design of the Horn Pond water supply, which included a water pumping station, reservoir, and tin distribution piping to serve the growing needs of the community following the Civil War. In 1908, a well field was developed along Suckers Brook adjacent to Horn Pond using fifty 2½-inch driven wells. This supply source was pumped to a 20-foot wide by 30-foot deep gallery where a new suction line from the steam pump was constructed. During the early 1920's, Horn Pond was used to supplement the groundwater supplies on an emergency basis during high demand summer periods. The City of Woburn embarked on a major capital improvements program in 2000 to upgrade all aspects of the municipal water system and over the last 15 years, over $50 million has been invested in the system.

History and Development of the Woburn Water System

In May of 1871, the then Town of Woburn, under an Act of the legislature, began the planning and design of the Horn Pond water supply, which included a water pumping station, reservoir, and tin distribution piping to serve the growing needs of the community following the Civil War. The new pumping station had a Worthington steam pump rated for 2 MGD and drew water from a filter gallery that was 82 feet long, 8 feet deep, and 12 feet wide. The filter gallery was located in front of the pump station adjacent to Horn Pond and allowed groundwater to be pumped to a 6 MG reservoir at the top of Horn Pond Mountain. From there, the fill and draw reservoir distributed potable water to the distribution system. Construction of the reservoir was completed in 1872 and on September 1, 1873 potable water was provided to the citizens of Woburn for the first time from the new public water supply. In 1908, a well field was developed along Suckers Brook adjacent to Horn Pond using fifty 2Vi-inch driven wells. This supply source was pumped to a 20-foot wide by 30-foot deep gallery where a new suction line from the steam pump was constructed. This improvement added approximately 1 MGD of capacity to meet the growing commercial demands of the community.

The original steam pump was replaced with a 5 MGD Platt Iron Works reciprocating steam pump in 1908. The steam engine is housed in the 1908 addition to the original Horn Pond pump station and can be seen on the right side of the building in the picture above. This pump stayed in continuous service until 1924 and it remains a part of the Horn Pond Pump Station today. The steam engine and flywheel are shown in the pictures below. The actual pump pods are located in the basement of the pump station with suction lines to the two galleries as well as a set of emergency suction lines to Horn Pond itself. The coal fired steam boilers were located at the rear of the station and a railroad spur laid along the edge of Horn Pond allowed for the delivery of coal. This railroad spur also served the ice houses along Horn Pond that distributed ice throughout the greater Boston area.

In 1921, the backup Worthington steam pump that was installed in 1880 was replaced with a 5 MGD Morris Machine Works centrifugal pump operated by a Kerr steam turbine which remained in service until the 1930's.

During the early 1920's, Horn Pond was used to supplement the groundwater supplies on an emergency basis during high demand summer periods. This practice resulted in periodic occurrences of bacteria and in 1923, a Wallace and Tiernan gas chlorinator was installed for disinfection purposes. The chlorinator, which can be seen below, is on display in the Horn Pond Pump Station.

In the early 1900's, the original tin water distribution piping was replaced with cast iron piping which is still in service today.

As water consumption grew throughout the 1920's, the city began to look for alternative water supply sources. The Metropolitan District Commission was investigated in 1924 and 1, found r , not to be a cost effective alternative , for providing ail or the community needs. Ihe report urged that the city explore entrance into the MDC for the supplementary supply of water beyond the safe yield of the groundwater supply in use at that time. The report indicated that the MDC was planning a new reservoir which would provide the needs of all member communities (Quabbin Reservoir) well into the next century. Thought was given to using Horn Pond as a supply source, however the safe yield was only 2.3 MGD and a filtration plant would have been required to improve the quality of the water to make it potable. Additional groundwater exploration was performed in 1928 by the P. D. Bowler Company which resulted in the installation of Wells A, B and C in 1931. A newspaper article from 1931 depicts the installation of the screen at Well B. Well B is still in service today. Well C was discontinued in the late 1930's due to sand intrusion and it was replaced in 1972 with Well C2. Similarly, Well A was replaced in I960 with Well A2.

In 1934, Well D was installed followed by Well E in 1937 and Well F in 1961. Wells E and F were discontinued in 1999 due to the high levels of manganese and the appurtenant discolored water issues that resulted from their use.

As domestic and commercial water demands continued to grow, new groundwater supplies were sought along the Aberjona River in East Woburn which resulted in the construction of Well G in 1964 followed by Well H in 1967. Chemical contamination of these two wells from volatile organic compounds was discovered in 1972 and the wells were deactivated. Subsequent health studies indicated that there was a greater level of childhood illness than was normally expected, particularly in East Woburn which received water from Wells G and H. This period was a difficult time for the community with the book and the movie "A Civil Action" being a constant reminder of the children that were affected by the contamination. The EPA and the responsible parties are moving forward with final wetland restoration around Wells G and H following many years of contamination cleanup. Well I was constructed adjacent to Horn Pond in 1984 and it represents the last of the new well locations within the Horn Pond well field. In 1972, some 50 years after studying the feasibility of using the MDC as a supply source, a contract was signed with the MDC to supplement the municipal water supply that was lost with the closing of Wells G and H. In order to meet the current average daily demand of 6.5 MGD, the city obtains approximately 4 MGD from the Horn Pond aquifer and the balance of approximately 2.5 MGD is obtained from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority through two separate pressure reducing valves located on the easterly side of the city.

In I960, the city erected a 4.5 MG steel reservoir on Rag Rock Hill to augment water storage within the low service system. A 4.0 MG pre-stressed concrete tank was erected on Whispering Hill in 1970 to serve the West Side High Service Area and to augment the storage capacity of the original 0.2 MG Zion Hill Storage Tank. The addition of the new tank in conjunction with the Horn Pond Mountain Reservoir and the Rag Rock Storage Tank increased the overall system storage capacity to 14.5 MG. In 1972, a steel cover was added to the Rag Rock Storage Tank and the open Horn Pond Reservoir was phased out of service in 1984.

The Water System Today

Water Supply

The City of Woburn embarked on a major capital improvements program in 2000 to upgrade all aspects of the municipal water system and over the last 15 years, over $50 million has been invested in the system.

The city continues to obtain its water supply from the Horn Pond Well Field and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. Improvements to the well field included the replacement of the original Well D in 2005 with Well D2, situated approximately 50 feet to the north. Well D2 is the newest of the Horn Pond well houses and like the other four active Horn Pond Wells, it has a variable frequency drive and groundwater observation wells with depth transducers. The SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system, located at the Groundwater Treatment Facility, monitors the groundwater level in the wells and automatically decreases the speed of the pump motor if the groundwater elevation approaches the top of the well screens, thus protecting the wells from overdrafting. All of the wells are equipped with this feature and the well production is adjusted on a continuous basis to meet daily demands. The Horn Pond Well Field is capable of producing up to 4 MGD. The balance of the city's 6.5 MGD average daily demand is obtained from the MWRA through meters 200 and 230. In 2012, Meter 230 and its underground vault were replaced with a new pressure reducing valve and an above ground building. The MWRA is in the process of constructing a redundant water supply line through Stoneham and Reading which will connect at Meter 230 and increase the reliability of the MWRA supply. These two supply sources are expected to serve the needs of the community well into the future.

Groundwater Treatment

In 2002, the city constructed the Horn Pond Corrosion Control Facility to meet the mandated lead and copper rule. The facility provided for the adjustment of pH using sodium hydroxide and the addition of poly-orthophosphate to sequester iron and manganese found within the groundwater supply. The sequestering agent also coats unlined cast iron pipes to inhibit sloughing of the biofilm. The facility provides for disinfection using sodium hypochlorite and fluoridation using hydrofluorosilcic acid. All of the chemical feed dosages and well pump rates are monitored by the SCADA system located in the Central Control Room to ensure that the proper chemical concentrations are maintained on a continuous basis. The SCADA system also monitors the system pressure, flow rate, and water elevation at the two MWRA pressure reducing valves; six booster pump stations; five municipal wells and three storage tanks within the system. The facility includes an administrative area, laboratory, locker rooms, electrical and mechanical rooms along with the chemical rooms. The corrosion control facility was designed by CDM Smith and constructed by Waterline Industries, Inc.

In 2012, the treatment facility was expanded to include pressure filtration to remove iron and manganese, which had been increasing and was the source of periodic discolored water. The filters and media are the product of Pureflow Filtration Division and are rated for 4 MGD. The expansion included the addition of ultraviolet disinfection as a precaution against Cryptosporidium and Giardia from the influence of ITorn Pond on the groundwater supply. The facility was designed by CDM Smith and constructed by RH White, Inc. As part of the project, a 10,000 square foot water distribution building was constructed to house the water department personnel, equipment, and materials. The water distribution building contains offices, water meter storage room, materials storage room, locker rooms, and lunch area for the workers.

The architecture of both the water treatment facility and the distribution building mirror elements of the 1871 pump station in the entrance arches, brick corbelling, granite window sills, and slate roofs, such that the water complex as a whole is historically consistent in its appearance.

Water Distribution System

There are over 190 miles of water main, ranging in size from 6-inch to 24-inch that distribute water throughout the city. There are approximately 80 miles of unlined cast iron pipe installed between 1912 and 1928, with approximately 30 miles of cement lined transite pipe installed throughout the late 1960's and early 1970's. The remaining 80 miles of main consists of cement lined ductile iron pipe.

Since 2000, the city has cleaned and lined approximately 22 miles of old cast iron main and replaced another 8 miles of cast iron main with larger ductile iron main. The city appropriated another $6 million in 2014 to continue the annual capital program of cleaning and lining or replacing unlined cast iron water mains from the early 1900's. In conjunction with the cleaning and lining effort, the city has replaced over 400 hydrants and 950 gate valves. The cleaning and lining effort has reduced water quality issues associated with discolored water as well as reducing unaccounted for water associated with the lead and oakum joints of the older cast iron mains.

There are four major service areas within the distributions system. The Low Service Area is maintained by the Rag Rock Storage Tank and the supply sources. The West Side High Service Area is supplied by the Shaker Glenn Booster Pump Station and storage is provided in the Whispering Hill Tank. There are two pump-to-demand service areas that include Blueberry Hill and Montvale Avenue. The Shaker Glenn Pump Station, constructed in 1950, is scheduled for replacement in the spring of 2015 with the construction of a new 2 MGD pump station.

Water Storage Facilities

The former steel Rag Rock Water Storage Tank was replaced in 2012 with a new 3-9 MG pre-stressed concrete tank. The tank was designed by CDM Smith and constructed by Preload, Inc. The tank includes a circulation system on the influent riser that allows better mixing of water within the tank and available chlorine remains fairly constant. With the commissioning of the new concrete tank, the old steel tank was demolished in 2012 and the site was restored as open space under the jurisdiction of the Conservation Commission. The Rag Rock Storage Tank maintains the pressure in the Low Service Area of the city.

The Whispering Hill Tank is a pre-stressed concrete storage facility constructed in 1970 with a capacity of 4.0 MG that serves the West Side High Service Area. The Whispering Hill Tank is expected to remain in service for the foreseeable future.

In addition to structured storage facilities within the community, the city has the capability to obtain up to 17 MGD from the MWRA through its two metered connections, and there are three hardened emergency connections to neighboring communities should the need ever arise.

The City of Woburn takes pride in producing potable water of the highest quality for the people of Woburn and Mayor Galvin is committed to providing the resources to maintain and improve the system.

This article is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Robert Simonds, longtime City of Woburn Department of Public Works Superintendent, who was a large part of the history of the Woburn water system.