The Westerly Historical Society

Winnapaug Water Tank Ascending,

 by Thomas A. O’Connell

 

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               WINNAPAUG WATER TANK ASCENDING

                                                                                   By Thomas A. O’Connell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was some talk in the papers of late about replacing the red and white steel water tank which has stood for over seven decades off Tank (Winnapaug) Road in the southern section of Westerly. Having already written about the genesis of the town’s water supply system which was begun in the mid-1880’s, there was a natural curiosity to learn why this spider-legged, silent, steel Aquarius came to loom above the airport runways and local beaches. What was its intended purpose? Whom does it serve?

 

The best place to research for records dealing with Westerly’s utilities is at the town Utilities Office in White Rock. There in the second floor office of the Superintendent of Utilities, Paul Corina, are kept documents which reveal how the town water system began. The reader will discover how technical, yet in many ways how prosaic, the work is that it takes to cause water to flow cleanly and on-demand for use in a variety of purposes in the town.

 

Some background information

First, an explanation of how Westerly’s water system was managed in the early years of the 20^th Century. There was a Board of Water Commissioners who supervised the Westerly Water Works. This was a three member panel of Westerly Town Council appointed individuals who served alternating three-year terms at the pleasure of the Council. At the time of this episode, 1931-1932, the following were Westerly Water Board Commissioners: Lewis Stanton (served from 1927 through his resignation on June 3, 1940), the chairman [He also served as Moderator at Town Meetings.]; Thomas H. Morrison (served 1927-1939); and Farquhar Smith (served 1930-1938). Smith had been appointed on May 19, 1930 “by the Town Council to fill out the unexpired term of the late Mr. [Tristam Dickens] Babcock.” Babcock, who had been on the original Board in 1898, had been a member of the unit for thirty-two years. [The departure of some Board members may have been occasioned by the change of the preeminent political party during the Franklin D. Roosevelt years.]

 

The Commissioners’ positions were not full-time. The Westerly and Pawcatuck [City]Directory, 1934-1935, lists Mr. Stanton as the assistant manager of the Westerly branch of the Industrial Trust Company. He was also a partner in the C.G. Stanton & Co., painters and decorators. Thomas H. Morrison advertised himself as a general contractor in Westerly and Watch Hill. Farquhar Smith was the proprietor of Smith’s Flower Shop on 25 Canal Street.

 

 The Superintendent of the Westerly Water Works   was responsible for its routine and daily operations.  Arthur H. Coy (1929-1943) was the boss. He had recently taken over following the death of Thomas McKenzie (1897-1929). McKenzie had held the post since the town had bought out the original private owners in 1897. Mr. Coy was described as a man “possessed of rare tact in the fulfillment of his work, he was respected for his untiring efforts, his pleasant manner, his unvarying courtesy and his honesty and fair dealing.”

 

Each year together the Board of Commissioners and the Superintendent would prepare a sixteen-page document listing in minute detail the water and sewerage enterprise which they managed for the people of Westerly. Every foot and type of pipe and valve installed would be there. The amount of water leakage and  water consumed daily, monthly, and yearly was recorded. The millions of gallons of sewage processed; construction and maintenance projects itemized to the penny; statistics; tables; finances and so on were the stuff of these reports. The publication also included the number of Plumbers’ and Drain Layers’ licenses issued by the Board as well as those workmen’s bonds were kept on file in the Board’s offices. Report preparers subdivided the areas serviced into administrative regions based on the time when that region was first served, i.e., Westerly, Pawcatuck, Watch Hill, Misquamicut, Weekapaug, and Bradford after 1937. Their careful record keeping is a boon to today’s water managers and historians.

 

One chart generated by that Report, “ Rainfall As Recorded by the Gauge at the Water Works Pumping Station”, in inches and fractions was an important tool that the water supply planners used to manage the pumpage and storage of water for the consumer. The charts revealed levels of rainfall for the years 1927-1930 as follows:

                                                    1927         59.39 Inches   

                                                    1928         44.55     “

                                                    1929         46.71     “

                                                    1930         36.35     “

These numbers indicate a four-year average of 46.75 inches.

 

The Water Commissioners in their 1930 Report noted, “The year 1930 was an unusually dry year. According to a chart kept at the pumping station, there was less rainfall recorded than at any time during a period of more than fifteen years.” There had been a drought throughout the country and in the New England states so that conservation measures were applied. The good thing about Westerly was that the Water Works were “able at all times to cope with the demand placed upon it.” July and August water pumpage set records. The increase of summer population and “continuous lawn sprinkling taxed our main to its approximate capacity.”

 

The Report showed that the Superintendent and Commissioners were well aware of the severity of the situation. “In view of these facts, the Commissioners have undertaken preliminary investigations of methods to meet those conditions. Studies are being made of means to secure greater storage whereby we can meet the maximum demand.” The Commissioners were trying to anticipate demand and be prepared to deliver their product. But they kept secret their plans for a large water tower in the southern part of town.

 

The abundance of water or the lack of it has made or broken civilizations over the millennia. On the town level its adequate availability affects, as a start, insurance rates, tax rates, home builders plans, real estate values, tax collections, fire protection, farming, and the presence of mosquitoes.

 

 

 

Photo Courtesy of Sun Publishing Company

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