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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...