352 



MEMOIR OF DANIEL TREAD WELL. 





At that time the only water supply for the city was obtained from wells, from 

 Jamaica Pond through a wooden pipe about four inches in diameter, and from rain- 

 water collected in cisterns from the roofs of houses. The quantity of water required 

 daily was estimated by Mr. Treadwell at 100 gallons for each family, and 500,000 

 gallons for other purposes. This was about the proportion of the London supply at 

 the time. There were then 50,000 inhabitants collected in 8,000 families, and the 

 daily supply proposed was 1,600,000 gallons. To provide against an extraordinary 

 demand in case of fire, reservoirs within the city were to be kept full, and during 

 the emergency the use of water for other purposes diminished. The Beacon Hill 

 Reservoir was to be of 1,800,000 gallons' capacity, sufficient when two thirds full, 

 which it would be during most of the night, to supply twenty good engines operating 



constantly ten hours. 



" Various sources in the neighborhood of Boston, from which 1,600,000 gallons or 

 more daily may be obtained, were examined. Two of these, Charles River above the 

 falls at Watertown, and Spot Pond, in Stoneham, appeared to have advantage over all 

 others. The supply from the river, at all times abundant, must first be raised by arti- 

 ficial means before distribution. The pond, 140 feet above tide water, is sufficiently 

 high to reach all parts of the city ; the water of both is of good quality." From 

 the river, the water is brought, in Mr. Treadwell' s plan, in two trunks of thirty inches 

 in diameter, to the Mill-dam, where it is pumped through iron mains to reservoirs 

 on the highest points in the city, and thence distributed. The advantage of such 

 reservoirs is strongly urged, not only as equalizing the distribution, but also, inas- 

 much as water will be flowing into them night and dav, in the less diameter of 



_, ~...^.... „. 



pipes required to supply the 1,600,000 gallons in twenty-four hours, and in addition 

 furnishing a more perfect and ready supply in case of fire, or in case of any accident 

 to the mains external to the city. The water from Charles River, according to this 

 plan, is first let into a settling reservoir of five acres in area, and thence into the 

 mains, which deliver it to the pumping engines at the Mill-dam. From Spot Pond, 

 "after the supply shall have been proved to be sufficient," it is proposed to lead the 



main by one of 



by crossing the river at 



Craigie's Bridge, or by the Mill-dam, to a reservoir on Beacon Hill. The cost of 

 bringing water from Charles River and distributing it through all the streets laid 



O «»"~«fc> 



down in Hale's "Survey of Boston," 116,190 feet, is estimated at $514,842. An 

 equal quantity from Spot Pond with its distribution, it is estimated, will cost 

 $558,353 or $615,469, according to the route adopted. This report of thirty-two 

 pages, with detailed estimates, was made on the 4th of November, 1825. No action 



