The Westerly Historical Society

Winnapaug Water Tank Ascending,

by Thomas A. O’Connell

 

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In the Misquamicut and Weekapaug areas…

Fire protection as determined by the proximity of water sources is a key to keeping fire insurance premiums reasonable. The homes and farms in the Misquamicut and Weekapaug sections of the town at this time received little in the way of water service. “The six-inch main at Misquamicut is too small to furnish sufficient water for any pumper in the town…” (Westerly Sun June 7, 1931) The pumpers that hookup to the main are cautioned “to watch the pressure dial so that a vacuum would not be created and water pulled out of the houses of the property owners.” Such a vacuum could cause explosions in homes when hot water is supplied by water backs on kitchen stoves.

 

Westerly Fire Wardens or Chiefs for years had a simple plan for creating ponds of water in these beach areas to fight home and farm fires. It involved determining where a low area of ground might be. This

ground would further be reduced below sea level such that a man-made pond would form. Actually the fire  wardens liked to experiment with the pond making idea, a kind of offspring notion of the town cisterns that may or may not be filled with water should a fire occur. And so it was that on June 7, 1931 that Westerly’s Chief Fire Warden Robert Bonner, a stonecutter by trade, took his pumper out to the Weekapaug Dunes “to try out a fire water hole which had been blown out by dynamite at the edge of the road in the rear of the home of George B. Utter.” The time selected for the pumping was low tide so the water withdrawn would be only that which naturally seeped into the hole. The two men with Mr. Bonner - Herbert W. Hoadley, an engineer with the Westerly Water Works, and W.H. Hill, chief engineer of the Joseph Coduri Company – expressed satisfaction with the little pumper’s performance. But could it not be probable that the brackish water at low tide and the fully salted water at high tide would not over time corrode the pumper’s vital innards?  And what of the results of exploding dynamite sticks in folks’ backyards? The mosquitoes would be sure to gather in the new explosives sculpted homes at an alarming rate.

 

Dynamite was an inexpensive way of providing fire protection, the Sun declared, the Weekapaug damp spot made into a fire water hole had been blasted “for less than $20.” Such a deal!

 

That same day Messers Bonner, Hoadley, and Hill also looked at a “dummy hydrant” which the Misquamicut Fire District had installed several years prior. Such hydrants are still in limited use today. They are comprised of a length of pipe with a filtered inlet which are placed below the water level in a pond, for instance. The other end, seen above the ground, is usually set several feet high so that fire engine pumpers can suck the pond’s water. As the newspaper reiterated, “this dummy hydrant is connected with a pipe which leads to the pond and if kept clear and workable, a big pumper can be put onto this hydrant and the water pumped from the pond could be forced through the water main into another hydrant which is nearby, thus raising the pressure in the very middle of the system.”

 

This good idea doesn’t stop there – “Of course,” the paper explained, “it would throw salt water into the six-inch main, but this could easily be flushed out after the fire emergency was over. The householder in a very short time would not know there had been any salt water in the mains.”

 

It may be that the Sun ran the story with tongue-in-cheek to alert the populace as to the dangers of mixing fresh clean water from the Westerly water system’s main with pond water. Pond water bacteria, algae, etc., could back up into the water system after a big fire. Perhaps, this story was meant to be used as a goad to get the townspeople to think about the Water Works’ plans. The Sun in an editorial on June 14, 1931, alarmed the farmers by telling them that, if called, the fire department would have little water to fight a house fire. The farmers could help out by damming up a brook on the their property. And then there was always dynamite.

 

But there was a perpetual a mosquito infestation problem connected with these dammed or blown water holes. Mr. Bonner suggested a solution to the vector problem: “Fish might be put into these holes to prevent the mosquitoes from breeding….”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Westerly Sun Champions Oppidans’ Grumblings

That the Water Commissioners were aware of the water shortages in certain areas of the town can be documented. A Westerly Sun editorial proclaimed, “From all directions there seems to be a demand for more water mains and more water…for more than two years…property owners at Shelter Harbor have been asking for water, and those living along Post Road say they believe more homes would be constructed…if there was water in the streets.” (May 14,1931) The editorial also registered the complaints of Weekapaug, Shore Road, Langworthy’s Corner and Haversham regarding the lack of sufficient water pressure and availability.

 

The grousings had been heard all around the town, but a collective will to do something about the problem hadn’t hardened into action. Some one or some event or some group of citizens had to capture the town government’s attention before any kind of action would be taken. In that Spring of 1931of group of serious and determined people, golfers, resolved to end the drought. The leaders of the water-deprived were “the owners of property along Shore Road.”  (Sun April 30, 1931) They were led by the members of the Winnapaug Golf Course.   

 

Winnapaug Golf Course Has Its Eye on the Birdie

The entire Winnapaug Golf Course was serviced by a slender two-inch water pipe. What the Club members felt they needed was an eight-inch water main. The larger diameter main would better serve the Club and neighboring homes. So the Club members appointed a committee to speak with Arthur H. Coy and the Water Works officials.

 

Their argument was that both golf club and the Watch Hill Riding Club shared a two-inch water main which was woefully inadequate to meet both institutions’ needs. The golf club needed more water to irrigate its greens, fairways, and so on. The golfers had a proposal. They estimated “the distance from the Riding Club to the Golf Club is 3000 feet, and at the construction cost of $1.50 a foot…about $4500 [would] bring the eight-inch main to the golf club.” The Water Works, they thoughtfully supplied, would benefit from the construction as more nearby cottages would be water system consumers. The Water Works officials countered that they “have a plan of their own which is being kept secret for the time being.” Coy assured them of his fullest cooperation. (Sun April 30, 1931)

 

Apparently not satisfied with well-meant promises and “secret plans”, the Winnapaug Golf Course set a more direct line of problem solving in motion.  The club delegated Fred S. Opie, a local merchant and golfer, to meet with the Westerly Town Council in early May. Opie “asked the Council to cooperate with them in finding a way have an eight-inch water main extended from the Watch Hill Riding Club to Winnapaug Golf Club.” Town Council President Horace E. Burdick, a real estate dealer, relished the idea as it would bring more revenue into the town. And, because that road was presently under construction, what better time was there for laying the pipe.

 

About that time in the progress of the meeting, into the Council Chambers strode Arthur H. Coy, Superintendent of the Water Works.  A man of infinite timing, Coy selected this moment to propose burying a 12-inch main from Watch Hill Road to Shore Road. Opie must have been impressed with that proposition. Coy continued, “before we obligate ourselves for water for the Shore Road, we would want to see water in the tower first.” He was referring to the water tower the Commissioners wanted to build off the Winnapaug Road. The Water Commissioners’ secret plan had been revealed.  The thinking behind the need for the water tower was that “the greatest drain on the water supply was between 7 and 9 [A.M.].”Coy detailed such morning activities as laundries starting up, people taking morning baths, and, of course, golf courses irrigating their greens. (Sun May 4, 1931) The supply of water to the affected areas would be greatly enhanced if a substantial amount of it could be pumped into the area over night and stored in a reservoir, i.e., the water tank, ready for distribution in the morning. Pumping water directly from the wells in White Rock is not the best way of meeting needs at peak demand times. The water needs of Weekapaug, Winnapaug, and to some degree Watch Hill would be met if this Water Works plan was adopted. No action was taken on the request at that Town Council meeting.

 

Later that week C. Leo Higgins, Chairman of the Winnapaug Golf Club greens committee, announced that the permanent tees on the old nine holes would be open that Saturday (May 9) for play. Life is good. Life continued as usual.

 

Meanwhile, the Water Commissioners, thinking their water tower project would move forward on this new found thrust of public concern, started off by requesting the Town Council to approve the appointment of Robert S. Weston of Brookline, MA as the Board’s consulting engineer. The consulting engineer for the Board had been Gray & Leland of Providence. Since the appointment of Weston represented the hiring of a new firm, Weston and Sampson of Boston, Council approbation was mandatory.

 

Mr. Weston, a well-regarded expert in the field of hydrology, was the author of Water Works Handbook, a standard text in that discipline. Further, his pedigree was papered with degrees from Amherst College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Berlin. And, the clincher, he was related to two area families. (Sun May 25, 1931)

 

In early June Superintendent Coy secured the Council’s sanction to hire the Boston engineering firm. The Water Commissioners would straightaway commence to deal with and solve the water problems.

 

 

 

 

Photo Courtesy of Sun Publishing Company

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