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.—No. 9.
REPORT
COCHITUATE WATER BOAED,
CITY COUNCIL OF BOSTON,
FOR THE YEAR 1854.
BOSTON:
1855.
J. H. EASTBURN, CITY PRINTEK.
%- <f. S4vU>4>^nAM/L
REPORT.
Office of the Cochituate Water Board,
February \, 1855.
To the City Council of Boston.
The Cochituate Water Board, in conformity with
the provisions of the City Ordinance, respectfully pre-
sent their Annual Report for the year 1854, and also
transmit the several reports of the City Engineer and
Water Registrar, made to them pursuant to the same
ordinance, to which they would beg leave to refer the
Council for full details of the state of the Water Works,
and of the various transactions of the year relating to
them.
The Water Board feel gratified in being able to state
that the general condition of all* the Works, compre-
hending the structures at the Lake, the aqueduct,
reservoirs and distributing mains and pipes, is quite
satisfactory.
The repairs on the brick Aqueduct, which have been
brought to the notice of the City Council, in previous
reports of the Water Board as being in progress, are
now completed ; and various leaks and fissures, some of
which had existed from the laying of the works, and
4 WATER. [Feb.
had been a source of anxiety, from their endangering
the stability of the structure, by causing the foundation
to be undermined or washed away, have been, it is
beheved, effectually and permanently stopped.
The subject of the accretions in the pipes, which has
also formed a considerable topic of former reports, has
continued to attract the attention of the Board. Our
previous anticipations in relation to their future pro-
gress, — viz. that their rate of increase would diminish,
— seems to be, to a great extent, confirmed. The re-
searches and experiments of Professor Horsford, insti-
tuted for the purpose of ascertaining their precise
origin, and of discovering, if possible, the means of
preventing it, have been still further pursued ; and are,
as we hope, now nearly and successfully completed.
By a reference to a communication from him hereto
annexed, it will be seen that in his opinion the cause
of the accretions has been most satisfactorily ascer-
tained, and a confident expectation, founded on the
results of actual experiment, is expressed of the possi-
bility of effectually protecting the metal from them.
The extension of the works by laying distributing
and service pipes in new streets, &c., has been con-
tinued during the year, wherever it was called for,
and when the rule originally adopted by the Board,
requiring the assessment of a water rate equal to six
per cent, on the costj-was complied with.
The operations chargeable to this head have been
much diminished, the amount of distributing pipe laid
having been 3,976 feet less than the previous year.
The length of Distributing Pipes of 4, 6, and 12
inches diameter laid during the year is 9,014 feet, and
19 stop-cocks were affixed. The whole length of pipes
of 4 inches and upwards now laid, including hydrant
branches and bends, is nearly 110* miles.
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 5
The whole number of Stop Cocks is 960.
The number of Service Pipes laid during the year is
659, the length of which is 24,893 feet. The whole
number is 17,999.
The number of Hydrants established during the year
is 25. The whole number is 1,210.
The whole number of leaks repaired in pipes of 4
inches and upwards was 74. The last year it was 85.
The whole number in those of less than 4 inches
was 280. The last year it was 260.
The supply of water from Lake Cochituate has been
amply sufficient for all the public, domestic, and manu-
facturing uses to which it has been applied, notwith-
standing a greatly increased consumption, of more
than a million and a half gallons daily, and also the
long and severe drought which prevailed during the
summer and part of the fall, by which the lake was
deprived of the supply usually received during that
period.
The gates at the outlet dam were closed on the 30th
of May, the water then being 7 feet S/4 inches deep
above the flume. The water was gradually drawn oif
for consumption in the City, and also lost by evapor-
ation, with scarcely any compensating supply from
rain, until the 10th day of November, when it stood at
2 feet 1/4 inches above the flume, or 5 feet 1 inch below
the point where it was when the gates were closed,
and nearly 2 feet lower than it had been before since
the construction of the works. Since that time it has
been rising, and on the 1st of January it was 6 feet
above the flume.
The quantity delivered at the Brookline Eeservoir,
and brought into the City, was 3,614,243,335 wine
gallons, being a daily average for the year of 9,902,000
gallons.
6 WATEE. [Feb.
Deducting from this amount a large estimate of the
quantity probably lost by leakage in E,oxbury, as stated
in the City Engineer's report, the consumption in the
City appears to have been more than 60 gallons for
each inhabitant. The greatest daily average consump-
tion took place in the month of June, the least in
November, and there was an increase in the con-
sumption every month over that of the corresponding
months of last year, except in the months of October
and November, when it was less.
The rain-fall, calculated from gauges kept in various
places, as stated in the report of the City Engineer,
was 44 inches. The quantity which fell on the whole
water-shed is therefore assumed to have been about
14,467,038,300 gallons. The quantity wasted from
the outlet of the Lake is estimated at 3,733,541,000
gallons.
The amount received on account of Water E-ates
during the year, including those for Jamaica Pond,
and also for shutting off and letting on water for non-
payment of water rates, for repairs, and for unnecessary
waste, and also for laying service pipes, has been
^222,924.70, being ^25,734. 38 more than the amount
received from the same sources the last year. The
estimated receipts for the ensuing year are ^^25 6,000.
The Report of the Water Registrar contains a statement
in detail of the particular amounts received from the dif-
ferent sources, and also of the several tenants to whom
the water has been supplied, of which the following
abstract has been prepared and collated with a similar
statement of the last year.
1855.]
CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9.
1853.
IS54:.
1S53.
1S54.
13,632
14,073
Dwelling houses -• . . .
$119,891.18
$124,977.06
2,845
3,031
Stores, shops, ofiSces, cellars, &c.
16,006.93
18,242.25
283
299
Hotels, restaurants, and saloons
6,459.57
10,302.09
480
518
Stables ......
6,515.38
6,869.14
8
7
Eailroads -.-.-.
6,527.20
5,912.28
2
3
Ferry Companies ....
1,006.53
2,115.64
16
21
Steamboats .....
3,055.81
3,211.85
932
811
Hose ......
2,829.00
2,452.00
1
1
Motive power
535.51
783.44
63
67
( Sugar refineries, distilleries, brew- }
1 eries, and bakeries • • )
6,635.93
7,303.49
3
4
Gas Companies ....
514.47
508.76
Other manufacturing purposes -
16,247.23
18,738.22
Citj' buildings and other City uses -
3,733.50
Public buildings, charitable institu- )
tions, &c. - - - - )
1,053.83
1,627.92
Shipping contract with watermen
3,900.06
4,647.08
Street waterers ....
655.88
532.45
Building purposes ....
609.93
917.40
Other purposes ....
1,544.00
1,479.50
$193,988.44
$214,35407
To the above must be added one railroad, where the
amount due is not as yet precisely adjusted, and a
sugar refinery, in which a question has been raised by
the proprietors as to the accuracy of the water meter,
in consequence of the very large quantity of water
which it indicates to have been used.
The total number of water takers entered for the
present year is 19,193, being an increase of 1,023 over
the last year.
The water has been shut off in 2,325 cases, and it
has been let on in 2,741 cases. Repairs have been
made in the service pipes, streets, &c., in 446 instances.
For the purpose of discovering the places where the
water was suffered to run to waste unnecessarily, two
persons were appointed early in the year as Inspectors,
whose duty it was to visit the different parts of the
city in the night time, and to report to the Water
Registrar's Office the cases where any inordinate waste
8 WATER. [Feb.
could be detected, and notice was thereupon given to
the parties that their supply would at once be cut off.
In most cases this was not done, the parties agreeing
to prevent the occurrence in future, and paying the
amount prescribed in the ordinance. The Inspectors
performed this duty solely for about two months, and
were afterwards employed to some extent for the same
duties, but more generally in other business of that
office during the year. The number of cases of waste
reported was 731, the amount paid on account of
the same was ^1462, being more than the compen-
sation paid to the Inspectors for all their services dur-
ing the year. In many of the cases the waste detected
was apparently reckless and entirely useless ; in others
it was caused for the purpose of preventing freezing in
the pipes, but the quantity wasted was exorbitant, and
altogether beyond what was necessary for the purpose
required.
It is believed that the measures thus adopted were
the means of preventing much waste in certain places.
It is obvious, however, that the Inspectors could only
detect it in cases where it could be actually seen, as,
for instance, from hydrants; or where the discharge
was so large that it could be heard in the adjoining
streets. The quantity used at the time in the City
very clearly proves, however, that there must have
been as profuse wastefulness prevailing in other places,
not exposed to the inspection of the City officers, and
which at one time produced so great a loss of head as
to threaten somewhat serious consequences. During
the month of January the daily average was 10,800,000
gallons ; on the 25th of that month it was 11,000,000,
on the 26th 13,100,000, and on the 28th and 29th up-
wards of 14,000,000. The reservoirs at South Boston
and on Beacon Hill were entirely drained, and there
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 9
was only 3K feet of water left in that at East Boston,
and there was a failure of supply in many houses on.
Mount Vernon, Fort Hill, and the higher parts of
Broadway. Had a fire occurred at the time, it would
have been difficult to foresee the extent of the damage
which might have been caused.
It was stated .in the last annual report that the
Board had been directed by an order of the City Coun-
cil to revise the tariff of Water Rates, and to report
the same at an early day to the City Council. The
Board accordingly submitted a new tariff to the City
Council, in which they proposed to increase the revenue
derived from the Water Rates so that it might approxi-
mate more nearly to the annual interest payable on the
water loan. They therefore suggested the addition of
one dollar to the water rate on each dwelling-house, —
a specific rate on various kinds of water fixtures, when
used in any other places than dwelling-houses, — an
increased rate on stables, and also for water when
drawn in large quantities for manufacturers and other
like purposes. They also proposed, for the purpose of
preventing and discontinuing the use of certain descrip-
tions of water closets, where a large and inordinate
quantity of water is wasted, to charge them, wherever
used, with a very high water rate.
The tariff thus submitted was not adopted by the
City Council, except the additional charge of one dollar
to dwelling-houses. Instead of it, the only other alter-
ation made in the existing tariff was a rate of five dol-
lars upon each dwelling-house where a water closet or
bathing tub is used. It makes no distinction, there-
fore, between the different kinds of those fixtures, and
only charges for them when used in dwelling-houses,
allowing the use of one in various other places without
charge. The alteration will produce a considerable
2
10 WATER. [Feb.
increase in the income, but we would respectfully sug-
gest whether it does not hold out an inducement for
the construction of the most wasteful kind of fixtures,
as they are the cheapest, and impose an onerous tax
on dwelling-houses, already assessed not according to
the quantity of water used in them, but to their valu-
ation by the assessors.
RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES.
By the Account of Receipts and Expenditures hereto
annexed, the same appear to have been as follows, viz. :
The whole Amount di-awn from the City Treasury was $80,182.35
From which deducting the Amount
paid for unsettled claims for land
and water rights - - - - $14,713.52
Extension of the Works - - - 31,519.35
46,232.87
Amount of Current Expenses - - 33,949.48
The whole Amount of Receipts (in addition to those
charged in sundry accounts, and excepting water
rates) was
For Rents and Sundries, paid to the
City Treasurer - - - . 12,423.29
Balance $21,52 6.19
The Water Board have at last the pleasure of being
able to state that the only outstanding claims for dam-
ages, occasioned by the original construction of the
Water Works, have been finally settled by the adjust-
ment which has been effected during the past year of
those made by the mill owners on Concord River, and
by the Middlesex Canal Corporation, for being deprived
of the water of Lake Cochituate. These claims were
originally ten in number, and the aggregate amount of
damages sued for was nearly half a million of dollars.
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 11
Two of them were tried, in one the jury could not
agree in a verdict ; and in the other, where the damage
laid was ^150,000, they awarded ^500. A proposition
was then made for the discharge of all the claims, and
they were finally settled and discontinued by the pay-
ment of the sum of ^0,678.90, on the part of the City.
Taking into consideration the large amount claimed
by the several parties, the uncertainty as to what would
be the views which different juries might entertain of
the law and evidence in the various suits, and the ex-
pense and trouble which would necessarily attend the
trial and defence of them, it is very confidently believed
•that the arrangement which has been made is eminently
advantageous to the City. And, in addition, it may be
also stated that the City has now the power of dis-
posing of the Compensating Keservoirs in Hopkinton
and Marlborough, and Boon and Ramshorn ponds, near
the latter, which were originally purchased and im-
proved at an expense of upwards of $72,000, for the
purpose of supplying Concord River with water during
the dry season, and thereby lessening the damages
which it was feared might be occasioned by depriving
it of the water of the Lake. It will be the endeavor of
the Board to effect a sale of the above property as soon
as a purchaser at any reasonable price can be found.
The Water Board confidently trust that the present
state and future prospects of the Water Works, as far
as they are dependent on the subjects already referred
to in this Report, must be the source of satisfaction to
all who feel in any way interested in their success.
The supply of water in the Lake is ascertained, more
especially by our experience during the drought of the
past season, to be far greater than was originally cal-
culated; as is also the capacity of the aqueduct; various
imperfections which existed in parts of the works from
12 WATEK. [Feb.
tlie beginning have been remedied, and their permanency
and durability more certainly ascertained or established ;
the annual cost of carrying on the works has been much
diminished, and there is a probability of its being here-
after still more so ; and the income is gradually in-
creasing, the receipts for the past year being ;^5 3,407,
and the estimate for the next year, under the new water
tariff, being upwards of ^95,000 greater than those of
1851 ; and a great variety of claims for compensation
and damages, to a vast amount, and quite uncertain as
to their results, have been settled and got rid of, and
on terms, in the aggregate, far more favorable to the
City than had been originally anticipated.
While, however, the Water Board would congratu-
late the City Council that the experience of the past
year has thus borne its additional testimony to those
which have preceded, in confirmation of the most san-
guine anticipations which were originally entertained
of the sufficiency of the supply of water from the Lake
for all the uses of the City, they regret to be obliged to
report upon a deterioration in the quality of the water,
which has recently been, most unexpectedly, found to
be so universally prevalent, as to be not only a source
of much annoyance to every water taker, but also of
solicitude to all who feel an interest in the welfare of
the City. It was first observed in October last, and
consisted of a marked and peculiar taste, resembling, in
the opinion of some, that of fish, but we believe in that
of a great majority of persons, that of cucumbers or
some similar vegetable, the taste being sometimes ac-
companied by a disagreeable smell.
On the presumption that it was local in its origin,
and in fact confined to the circulation in the mains and
distributing or service pipes, they were all forthwith
thoroughly flushed out. This operation, together with
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 13
the change of the water produced by the ordinary con-
sumption (by which alone, as the pipes will hold but
little more than 3K million of gallons, and the con-
sumption Avas at the time over 9 milHons, the whole
body of water in them is discharged oftener than twice
in twenty-four hours), it was hoped, would be a suf-
ficient remedy for the trouble ; as it certainly would
remove all sources of impurity originating in or con-
fined to the pipes themselves. It was, however, not
the case ; indeed, in most instances th_e impurity seemed
to be actually increased by the operation. There were
also other anomalies quite difficult to account for. The
water, for instance, in the dead ends^ — that is, in the
pipes which terminate abruptly, without being con-
nected with others, as those laid in courts, &c., — was
frequently proved to be uninfected ; although the cir-
culation in those places, being subject only to the
actual draught of residents there, would be necessarily
quite sluggish, and the water naturally become stag-
nant and impure ; and, on the other hand, in other
larger pipes, where the current was continuous and
rapid, it was quite offensive.
It was also satisfactorily ascertained that the water,
after being drawn a few days, lost all its repulsive char-
acter and became tasteless. There was in no case any
appearance of fish or any other foreign matter in the
v/ater discharged from the hydrants or stop-cocks, nor
any stoppage in any of the service pipes, which must
be the case when any fish get into them. It seemed,
therefore, requisite to look beyond the limits of the
City for the origin of the difficulty, and upon exami-
nation it was found that the water in the Brookline
Reservoir and the Lake was affected in precisely the
same way. For the purpose of a thorough investi-
gation of the subject, it was then deemed expedient to
14 WATEE. [Feb.
have the water in the City and the Lake analyzed by
scientific chemists, in whom the public would have
confidence, and whose opinion as to the nature and
origin of the evil, and the prospect and mode of relief
from it, would have due weight and authority.
Professor Horsford, of Cambridge, and Dr. C. T.
Jackson, of this City, were accordingly appointed for
this purpose. They proceeded to the Lake and care-
fully examined the water in different parts of it, and at
different depths ; and also some part of the surrounding
water-shed ; and made a careful analysis of the water at
the Lake and also in different parts of the City, with-
out any disclosure being made to either of them of the
places whence the several specimens of water had been
taken. The result of their inquiries is contained in
their respective reports which were made to the Water
Board and published by its direction in the public
prints, in order to relieve, as soon as possible, the
anxiety on the subject which very generally prevailed.
The reports were made and the investigation conducted
by their respective authors independent of each other,
and without mutual consultation, and they did not, in-
deed, see each others reports until they were printed.
The communications contain a great variety of interest-
ing information, and the subject of them is discussed
so minutely and elaborately that they are deemed worthy
the special consideration of the City Council and a per-
manent preservation for future reference. The Water
Board would therefore beg leave to make them a part
of their Report. It will be found that both the He-
ports came to the same conclusion with that which
had been previously suggested in a communication
made by order of the Board,— viz., that the impurity
complained of is derived from vegetable decomposition
existing in the Lake itself, — that it might be attributed
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 15
to the unusually long and severe drought of the last
summer and to the subsequent rains acting on tlie
peculiar soil of part of the Lake and over the whole
water-shed, — and that complete relief might be antici-
pated from the natural agency of the approaching cold
and rains.
A brief description of Lake Cochituate, the source of
supply of water to the City, may be acceptable to such
members of the Council as are not at present familiar
with it, as affording them some means of forming a
more satisfactory opinion on the subject. The Lake is
about 3/^ miles in length in a direct line, the contour
of the margin being upwards of 1 2 miles. It is sepa-
rated almost completely into three nearly equal divisions,
connected with each other by quite narrow passages,
about 7 or 8 feet deep. The water gradually increases
in depth in each division from the shore. At .high
water, or when it is 8 feet high over the flume at the
outlet, the greatest depth in the southern division is
about 70 feet, in the central 50 feet, and in the northern
62 feet. The superficial area at high water is esti-
mated at 684 acres, and at low water, or the level of
the flume, 489 acres. Adjoining the southern division
there is a large meadow of about 55 acres, called
" Whitney's Meadow," and also a peat meadow of
about 65 acres ; and adjoining the central division,
near Snake Brook, which formerly flowed into the
Lake, there is another piece of marsh land, and there
are some small bays in other places ; and the increase
in the surface of the Lake, between high and low
water, takes place mostly in these meadows and bays.
At high water there are 125 acres which are not covered
with more than 5 feet of water. When the water is
but 3 feet above the flume, the peat meadow is to a
great extent covered, but the Whitney Meadow and
16 WATER [Feb.
that in the central division are mostly bare. For the
purpose of preserving the purity of the water, dams
were built separating the AVhitney Meadow, and also
that near Snake Brook, from the rest of the Lake, as
recommended by Messrs. Jerviss and Johnson, the Water
Commissioners in 1845. They also proposed to remove
the peat from the other meadow for the same object.
The other parts of the shore are generally a bold sand
or gravel bank. The outlet dam, and also the gate-
house at the commencement of the aqueduct, are placed
in the northern division.
Dug Pond, a very important tributary to the Lake,
is situate near the southern division, and consists of 44
acres of very pure water, elevated considerably above
the level of the Lake, and surrounded by quite high
gravelly banks. It is separated from the peat meadow
by the Central Turnpike, beneath which it is conducted,
through a culvert, into the meadow, and flows over it
into the Lake.
The water-shed, or tract of country which is drained
into the Lake, is bounded by the range of hills which
separates the streams running into Concord River from
those which run into Charles River, and is estimated to
contain 11,400 acres, after deducting the lake, and also
several ponds which probably lose by evaporation most
of the rain which falls upon them. There is probably
more than 1000 acres of marsh land in the water shed.
It was deemed important to ascertain, as far as prac-
ticable, whether the deterioration of the water during
the past year was peculiar to Lake Cochituate, or
whether other lakes and ponds have not been subject
to the same trouble. As far as the Board have been
able to institute any inquiries, they have found that
the difficulty has by no means been confined to the
Lake. Among others, Round Pond, near Haverhill,
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.—No. 9. 17
and which supplies that town, was examined by the
City Engineer, and some of the water brought to this
City. It was precisely similar in taste to the Cochituate
water. There was also sufficient evidence that Jamaica
Pond had been in the same state recently. The waters
of the latter pond, which are usually exceedingly pure,
some years since were for a time quite offensive both
to the taste and smell. The cause of the impurity,
however, was never discovered. It has, indeed, been
stated, in a communication made to the Board in No-
vember last, that it proceeded from an oil '• which in-
vestigation showed was from decomposing remains of
dead eels ; " and the author then attributed the im-
purity of the Cochituate water to a similar cause. This,
however, we take to be a mistake. We are assured by
the gentleman who had the entire charge and care of
that pond at the time presumed to be alluded to, as
the offensive character of the water was then quite
notorious and it has not been so at any other time,
that the origin of the evil could not be ascertained, but
that there was no appearance of dead fish in the pond
or the water pipes ; and we are also assured by the
scientific chemist who analyzed the water at the time,
that he could discover no trace of animal matter in it.
We are inclined therefore to believe that the cause of
the offensive character of the Jamaica Pond water was
then as much a subject of speculation as that of the
Cochituate water is now.
There is also proof that several wells near the Lake
and in other places have had their water affected in a
similar way ; and also that the water in the Chicojpee
Miver was for a time quite offensive.
A communication from George C. Carpenter, Esq.,
Superintendent of the Water Works at Albany, to the
City Engineer, describes some occurrences which took
18 WATER. [Feb.
place in relation to the state of the water there in 1853,
bearing a marked reseml)lance to what has happened
here. In October of that year, complaints began to be
made of a nauseous fishy taste in the water, which at
first was supposed to be caused by small fish being
lodged in the supply pipe. The evil, however, became
soon so universal that it was obvious that the cause
instead of being local was general. In some places
the taste, accompanied by a peculiar smell, was very
offensive, while in others it was scarcely perceptible ;
and some places were affected several days previous to
others only 330 feet distant, in the same street, with a
free circulation, the mains being connected and on the
same plane. The taste also affected individuals very
differently. Some thought it fishy, and to others it
had the taste of cucumbers so strong, that there was
nothing else to which it could be adequately compared-
A thorough examination was made at once ; and the
Superintendent is of opinion that he traced the source
of the evil to a grass which was found growing in great
profusion along the margin of the lake, from whence
the water is drawn. The plant had shed a large quan-
tity of seeds along part of the margin, and he found
the water above it offensive, and when the water lying
upon the seed was taken into the mouth, he thought it
impossible to doubt the origin of the impurity. The
taste of the seeds was also highly offensive.
Rensalaer Lake, whence the supply is derived, was
formed by building a dam across a creek and confining
the water within it. The unusual rain fall of that
year had raised the water so high that, for a width of
several feet along the entire margin, it covered a lux-
uriant growth of the grass before mentioned. On the
presumption that this was the origin of the impurity,
the water was immediately reduced to its former level,
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 19
beyond the reach of the plant, in the course of a few
days it was sensibly improved, and in three or four
weeks it attained its usual purity.
From all the evidence therefore which has thus far
been obtained on this subject, the Board are of opinion
that the recent impurity in the water, from whatever
source it may have arisen, has been by no means
peculiar to Lake Cochituate, but has infected other
ponds and collections of water in the same manner and
to the same extent. They are not without proof also,
that the same thing has been observed in the Lake in
past years, though at a distant period of time.
The remote cause of the impurity, the Board are
still disposed to attribute to the long drought and hot
weather which prevailed during the past season, by
which the water was unusually reduced in the Lake,
and a large extent of marsh and peat land connected
with the Lake and over the water-shed, was either
entirely exposed, or but slightly covered with water ; by
which animal and vegetable decomposition must have
been greatly promoted, and the products washed or
carried into the Lake by the rains which began to fall
about the time when the offensive condition of the
water was first perceived.
If the cause thus assigned were absolutely demon-
strable as the true one, it would perhaps be expedient
to adopt at once the necessary measures to preven^t the
recurrence of the evil hereafter, or at least to diminish
it ; by stopping the flow of water from the peat meadow
into the southern division of the Lake, and conducting
the water through it in some way, so as to be untainted
by any mixture with it ; as is suggested in the report of
the City Engineer — or by removing the peat ; and thus
carrying out the plan originally proposed, as has been
stated, by the Water Commissioners, who early ex-
20 WATER. [Feb.
pressed their fears that the water might be contaminated
by it. The expense attending the latter operation is
probably one reason why it was not effected at first.
The exemption which we have experienced from all
the untoward consequences which were feared, and
which encouraged the hope that they would never be
realized, has been the reason for not doing it since.
Both these projects however, would now seem to de-
mand the earnest consideration of the Board, and it
will accordingly be given.
The Board do not at present deem it expedient to
adopt any of the other modes of purification which
have been proposed. Their value and importance
would seem to depend almost entirely, on the weight
to be attached to the conjectures, which the reasoning
or fancy of their authors have given rise to, as to the
causes of the trouble. The Board have no satisfactory
evidence of the existence of any of the causes which
have been thus suggested. There is no appearance of
the number of fish in the Lake being too abundant, as
is supposed to be the case by some ; nor that it is too
much diminished, as is assumed by others. In fact,
their numbers and variety appear to be the same as
heretofore. There are no symptoms of any sickness or
disease among them ; and there is not, nor has there
been the slightest appearance of the decomposing re-
mains of dead fish of any kind, or of any other animal
matter, in the Lake, reservoirs, or mains, or in the
water flushed off from the mains ; all which have from
time to time been assigned as causes of the deteriora-
tion. There has been also some suspicion expressed
of the action of a volcano. The presence of dead fish
or fish oil in the water, was however, the first sug-
gested cause, and is still, by some, pertinaciously ad-
hered to. In discrediting it entirely, the Board and
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 21
the chemists employed by them, are directly at variance
with the publicly expressed opinion of a well known
chemist, whose judgment is of course worthy of re-
spect ; and also, with that of a considerable number,
whose opinion is founded more on a fancied resem-
blance of the taste or smell, than any thing else. This
similarity of taste is, indeed, not perceived by — it is
believed — the great majority of water takers ; to whom
the taste appears to be a vegetable one, and is most
frequently compared to that of cucumbers. But the
idea of its proceeding from animal decomposition being
once admitted, it is difficult to be got rid of, especially
when efforts are perpetually making to confirm it.
The only reason which has been assigned, independ-
ent of those derived from the taste and smell, is the
presence of an oil, said to be a fish oil, which has been
detected in the water ; the origin of which is assumed
to be the same with that which infected Jamaica Pond
some years since, and which is stated to have been
proved on investigation to have been derived from dead
eels. We have no evidence, however, of the identity of
the origin of the oils, nor of the source whence it was
derived in the case of Jamaica Pond, as we have before
mentioned. It is also alleged that an oil has been
found in certain animalculee, which have recently in-
creased very greatly, both in number and size, as
ascertained after five years' daily observation, which
vitiates the water in a similar way ; that these animal-
culse, or crustaceans as they are called, are carnivorous,
and live on the decomposing remains of dead fish, doing
the duty of scavengers.
"With regard to the supposition of an increase in the
crustaceans, — as it is opposed to the results of all exam-
inations which have been made by others, from time to
time ; and is not indeed confirmed by general experience,
22 WATER. [Feb.
as it would be if the increase were large and extensive
enough to produce the effects contemplated, — it is most
probable that the observations were made on water
drawn from some locality where it was exceptionally
affected. And in relation to the nature of the oil, and
the habits, economy and duties of the creatures which
produce it, the Water Board do not feel called upon to
express any opinion, until those who are more skilled
in researches into such matters come to some agree-
ment among themselves on the subject. They can only
profess their entire and absolute disbelief in the way
thus devised, of accounting for the recent state of the
Cochituate Water ; and would refer to the supplemen-
tary communication of Prof. Horsford.
The W^ater Board have to regret that the expecta-
tions which had been encouraged of a speedy termina-
tion of the evil, were not completely realized. Their
own observation and the information which they re-
ceived from different parts of the City, induced them to
believe, however, that about the middle of January, or
a little sooner, a decided improvement had began in
the water in the City, though it was still offensive, and
at some times and places more so than at others.
Near the surface of the Lake it was then comparatively
pure, but at the depth of 25 or 30 feet, in the northern
division, the repulsive taste continued about as manifest
as it was previously. In the other divisions it was
almost entirely tasteless. It was also discovered that
the water of Dug Pond, whose purity had never before
been suspected, had undergone a similar deterioration,
and, at a depth of 25 feet, closely resembled that of the
northern division ; at the surface, however, it had no
offensive taste whatever.
An unavoidable delay which has occurred in the as-
certaining some of the details of the report, has
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 23
enabled the Board to continue their record on the
subject beyond the time fixed by the ordinance for its
completion. It enables them to state that the improve-
ments supposed to have been commenced about the
middle of January, went on increasing till the first
of February ; and at that time, the water at the Lake
seemed to have acquired its former purity. Taken
from every depth in the northern division, it was en-
tirely tasteless — that in the other divisions had been so,
for a short time previous ; and various returns which
they received from different parts of the City, seemed
to afford them the assurance that the same thing had
taken place there. In most places where the deteriora-
tion was marked and decided, there is now no appear-
ance of it, and in all there is a great and manifest
change. We are also inclined to believe that in some
places where the alteration is supposed to be less than
in others, the difference may be owing to the stagna-
tion in dead ends, or where the circulation is imperfect
or retarded.
Eespectfully submitted,
Thomas Wetmore, President.
Henry B. Rogers,
Adam W. Thaxter, Jr.,
Thomas Sprague,
Charles Stoddard,
William Washburn,
Samuel Hatch.
Cochituate Water Board.
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 25
EECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES.
Statement of all Expenditures made by the Cochitu-
ATE Water Board, erom December 31st, 1853, to Janu-
ary 1st, 1855.
Blacksmith's Shop, forStock, &c..
-
^19.85
Plumbing " " " "
-
64.98
Cartage, Boston, - - -
-
73.45
" East Boston,
-
51.88
ii
Travelling Expenses,
-
553.75
Salaries, - . -
-
9,028.26
Office Expenses, for rent, fixtures.
, &c..
2,589.68
Postages, - _ _ _
-
22.73
Expresses, - * -
19.79
Stationery, , - - -
-
144.28 .
Printing, - _ _ -
-
136.22
Advertising, - - - -
-
11.00
Recording Deeds, &.C.,
-
13.50
Miscellaneous Expenses, for examining
pipes, water, &c.,
-
1,108.31
Taxes, _ _ - -
-
957.92
Oil and Wicking, - - -
87.24
Tools, - - - -
-
796.95
Fountains, _ _ . -
-
347.88
Beacon Hill Reservoir, for labor, &>c..
195.47
South Boston " "
-
151.84
East Boston " "
-
165.56
Brookline u u .
-
854.63
Aqueduct Repairs, for labor & materials.
4,023.48
Lake Cochituate, for labor, &c.,
-
386.64
Amount carried forward, $22,005.29
26
WATER
[Feb.
Amount brought forward, $22,005.29
Tolls and Ferriages,
-
-
-
119.70
Service Pipes,
-
-
-
65.81
«- " Boston,
-
-
2,566.79
It ti g_ it
-
-
1,030.88
" « E, ti
-
-
3,193.64
Water Pipes,
-
-
-
12,006.81
« " Boston,
-
-
-
134.35
" " S. "
-
-
-
14.74
« " E. "
-
-
-
308.56
Hydrants,
-
-
-
263.96
" Boston, -
-
-
-
8.38
Hydrant Boxes,
-
-
-
160.05
Stop Cocks,
-
-
-
1,664.49
" " Boston,
-
-
-
167.19
ti It g^ u
-
-
-
167.08
« " E. *'
-
-
-
167.18
Stop Cock Boxes, -
-
-
-
20.06
Union Stop Cocks,
-
-
-
73.75
Laying Water Pipes,
-
-
-
212.59
« « " Boston,
-
141.14
tl It u g^
a
-
-
782.36
tl it il Ji]_
It
-
-
94.10
Water Meters,
-
-
-
53.66
Repairing Streets, Boston,
-
-
557.42
" " S. "
-
-
88.64
({ it E. '*
-
-
101,89
Repairing Water Pipes,
-
-
79.41
" Service "
-
-
24.00
" Stop Cock Boxes,
-
-
7.12
" Hydrants,
-
-
-
37.60
Marlboro Reservoir,
-
-
-
16.50
Whitehall "
-
-
-
213.48
Rents,
-
-
-
103.26
Land Damages,
r
-
-
296.82
Land and Water Rights
')
-
-
14,713.52-39,656.93
Amount carried forward, ^61,662.22
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 21
Amount brought forward, 161,662.33
Water Works, East Boston, - - 80.65
Water Works, Boston, - - - 74.19
Damages, Boston, - - - 101.34
" E. " - - - - 27.00
Jamaica Pond Aqueduct, - - 39.53
Cash, for sums received of H. Rich-
ardson, for rents, - _ _ 93.75
Stable, for grain, repairing vehicles, &c., 538.03
Repair Shop, for stock, &c., - - 347.43 1,181.80
163,844.03
Amount paid for Labor, viz:
Letting on and Shutting off Water, - 3,890.37
Blowing off Hydrants, - - - 794.05
Laying Water Pipes, Boston, - - 1,506.53
« " S. " - - 384.73
" « E. " - - 505.01
Laying Service Pipes, Boston, - - 1,520.58
" " S. « - - 395.23
" " E. " - - 1,032.26
Blacksmith's Shop, - - - - 750.88
Plumbing « - - - - 556.06
Proving Yard, 2,588.03
Repairing Streets, Boston, - - 327.71
« " S. " - - 34.74
« " E. *' - - 21.75
« Water Pipes, - - - 1,169.74
« Service " - - - 1,442.60
« Hydrants, - - - 799.04
" Stopcocks, - - - 142.23
Miscellaneous, _ . - - 960.73
Jamaica Pond Aqueduct, - - 109.64 17,831.78
Amount carried forward, $80,675.80
28 WATER.
[Feb.
Amount brought forward,
$80,675.80
Cr.
Marlboro' Reservoir, for rent, -
150.00
Whitehall « «
173.77
Rents, - - _ - _ 169.68 493.45
Amount of Expenditures, |80, 182.35
Cash paid City
Treasurer,
For Rents, &c., at Saxonville,
-
265.00
<(
" " Wayland, -
-
193.30
<(
" «' Needham, -
-
8.50
({
" " Brookline, -
-
8.87
((
" " E. Boston,
-
1'4.00
11
" " S. Boston,
-
8.00
11
Lumber, - _ -
-
5.00
ii
Derrick, Chains and Pipes, &c.,
409.86
11
Discount on Taxes,
-
32.36
a
Old Carpets, - - _
-
60.42
li
Materials, Labor, &c., - -
-
2,698.54
11
Land in Framingham,
-
100.00
li
" Brookline,
-
756.56
ti
Notes for Land in Fra-
mingham, - - 350.01
ii
Notes for Land in Brook-
line, - - - 2,269.68
2,619.69
Amount paid by the Service Clerk,
For Service Pipe and laying, 1,892.69
" Shutting off and letting
on water, - - 1,888.50
" Shutting off water for
waste, - - 1,462.00 5,243.19 12,423.29
Balance, $67,759.06
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. - 29
Amount of Expenditures brought forward^ 80,182.35
Payments m^ade by the Cochituate Water
Board, for unsettled claim,s and extension of the
work^ viz :
Unsettled Claims.
Land and Water Rights, - - - 14,713.53
Extension of the Work.
Main Pipes, 12,464.46
Service Pipes, _ - _ _ 6,757.12
Hydrants, - - - - - - 272.34
Stop Cocks, 2,165.94
Labor laying Main Pipes, - - 2,396.27
Materials " " " - - - 1,230.19
Labor " Service " - - - 2,848.06
« at Proving Yard, - - - 2,588.02
Tools, 796.95 46,232.87
Amount of current expenses, $33,949.48
Statement of the Expenditures and Receipts on account of
the Water Works, to January \st, 1855.
Amount drawn by the Commissioners, $4,043,718.21'
« " Water Board of 1850, 366,163.89
« " " C. W. Board of 1851, 141,309.23
« " « C. W. Board of 1853, 89,654.20
« " " C. W. Board of 1853, 89,854.03
" " " C. W. Board of 1854, 80,182.35
$4,810,881.91
Amount paid into the City Treasury
by the Commissioners, - - 47,648.38
Amount paid into the City Treasury
by the Water Board of 1850, - 8,153.52
Amounts carried forioard, $55,801.90 4,810,881.91
30 WATER. [Feb.
Amounts brought forward, $55,801.90 4,810,881.91
Amount paid into the City Treasury
by the 0. W. Board of 1851, 5,232.38
Amount paid into the City Treasury
by the C. W. Board of 1852, 15,869.12
Amount paid into the City Treasury
by the C. W. Board of 1853, 4,621.40
Amount paid into the City Treasury
by the C. W. Board of 1854, 12,423.29 93,948.09
$4,716,933.82
Sundry payments by the City, 41,597.73
Discount and interest on loans, 1,841,693,58 1,883,291.31
$6,600,225.13
Sundry credits by the City, - - 1,203.17
Amount rec'd for Water Rents, d&c. 926,622.31 927,825.48
Whole Cost of Water Works to Jan. 1, 1855, $5,672,399.65
SAMUEL HOLBROOK,
Clerk of Cochituate Water Board,
ACCRETIONS IN THE PIPES.
^ Cambridge, January 22c?, 1855.
Thomas Wetmore, Esq,.,
President Cochituate Water Board.
Sir, — A synopsis of analyses, bearing upon the important
problem of protecting iron water pipes from corrosion within,
embracing several hundred determinations, made during the
past year, has already been submitted to you. In view of
the results thus attained, it is not too much to say, that the
cause of the accretion has been most satisfactorily ascer-
tained, and that all the apparent anomalies hitherto recorded,
have met with a ready and natural explanation.
A somewhat extended series of practical experiments
guided by the results of analysis, has led to the confident
expectation that it will be possible to protect iron effectually
against this kind of corrosion and accretion. The results of
analysis and experiment will better appear together, and as
the latter are not yet concluded, I beg to delay the presen-
tation of my report, until the research is ended.
I have the honor to be,
' Very respectfully,
Your ob't serv't,
E. N. HORSFORD.
EEPOETS
ON EECENT IMPUEITIES IN THE WATER.
(N. B. The specimen of water delivered io Prof. Horsford, No-
vember 16, ivas taken from house No. 16 Boylston street, as ivas also
that delivered to Dr. Jackson, and marked No. 2 ; that marked No.
4 was from the Lake.)
PEOF. HOESFOPD'S EEPOET.
Thomas Wetmore, Esq.,
President of the Cochituate Water Board.
Sir : — The undersigned respectfully reports upon the in-
vestigation of the recent peculiar taste observed in the Co-
chituate water, as follows : —
About the middle of last October complaints were made
of an offensive taste in the Cochituate water from particular
localities in the City. As time advanced, the complaint be-
came more general, until at length nearly all quarters of the
City suffered alike from the impure water. The taste was
by some thought to resemble that of fish oil, by others that
of a cucumber wilted and beginning to decay, and by still
others, that of the water of a stagnant pool in summer.
It is well known that from time to time fish and eels have
found their way from reservoirs into service pipes, and dying,
have imparted to the water an offensive taste and odor. It
has frequently happened in the Croton pipes of New York,
and occasionally in the Cochituate pipes. It occurred in the
Spring of 1851, when, for a time, the strainers of the Brook-
line reservoir were out of order. These strainers, though
effectual against large fish, Avould not exclude the young and
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— IN'o. 9. 33
verj'^ small ones. Such, entering, might increase in size, and
from various causes die and be carried into the service pipes.
These considerations, together with the fact that an oily
substance may be extracted with ether from a filter some time
in use, and the peculiar odor which exhales from the filter, to
which the epithet " fishy" had been applied, have lent nat-
ural support to the view that the cause of the offensive taste
and smell was to be sought in decaying fish and eels.
If this were the correct explanation, an annoyance so gen-
eral should have a correspondingly extensive cause, and dead
fish ought, at least occasionally, to havcbeen noticed by the
water officers at some of the numerous wastes which have
been kept open by order of the city engineer ; and on revers-
ing filters, fish scales and bones should have been frequently
found. But so far, no fish and no remains of fish, have been
seen by the water officers to pass from the pipes since last
July. Some small white fragments caught upon a filter that
had been several days in use, and which were described as
pieces of the muscle of fish or eels, proved, upon microscopic
and chemical examination, not to be animal matter of any
description whatever, but lumps of starch, derived doubtless
from the seeds of shrubbery or trees; growing on the shore
of the lake.
An oily matter extracted from the same filter by ether,
proved to be the wax of the chlorophyl (green coloring mat-
ter) of the microscopic plants, which have been present at all
times, and now abound in the water.
The question of the taste being due to the presence of
decaying fish or eels in the pipes is, however, set at rest by
the consideration that the ofi'ensive water was remarked at
the Brookline reservoir and at Lake Cochituate, where, with
every opportunity for careful observation, no dead fish or
eels have been found.
The water within the gate house, at the entrance to the
aqueduct, was less offensive than that observed in the City.
It was drawn from several feet below the surface of the
Lake. That at the surface in the open Lake, was tasteless.
From depths of 20, 30,*40 and 50 feet, the water had the
34 WATER. [Feb.
cucumber taste, but not so marked as that in Boston, These
samples from various depths were found to have identically
the same quantity of foreign matter, and to differ but little
from the water in Boston of the same and previous dates, as
the following determinations show : —
In 100,000 parts.
Cochituate in Boston in Sept., 1848, - 5.30
Another locality, ----- 5.30
Nov. 16, 1854, - 5.26
Nov. 27, - 5.25
Cochituate Lake, Nov. 24, 20 ft. below, - 5.50
30 - 5.50
40 - 5.50
50 at bottom, 5.50
The water being pure at the top and offensive below, sug-
gested that the source of the impurity might be at the bot-
tom of the Lake. It is not unusual for accumulations of
organic matter overflowed by water, to undergo fermentation
imparting bad flavor to the water, injurious to the fish inhab-
iting it, and, from its exhalations, an annoyance to residents
in the neighborhood. The part of Lake Cochituate lying
nearest the junction of the Saxonville branch with the Wor-
cester Railroad, and separated from the main body by a dam,
passed through fermentations of quite an extensive charac-
ter in the years 1852 and '53, accompanied by the evolution
of much gaseous matter, and the destruction of great num-
bers of fish — cart loads it is said. Such occurrences have
been observed elsewhere, but the circumstances under which
they have taken place, are well defined. There must first of
all be organic matter in quantity to undergo the change, and
secondly there must be elevation of temperature, with the
supply and discharge of water nearly or quite cut off. It
might happen where lo^v meadow land or peat is sub-
merged to but moderate depth, the water permitted to stand
without change and lessened by prolonged evaporation.
But this phenomenon would occur to the same body of
water but once or twice, and the accumulation of organic
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 35
matter having been destroyed by fermentation, the water
would be no longer affected by changes at the bottom.
Now Cochituate Lake is not of recent formation. It is
surrounded for the most part by gravel banks instead of
meadows and marshes. It loses somewhat by evaporation,
yet the total loss in a summer is but a small part of the^
whole quantity present at any one time. It is at low water
mark in some places more than 60 feet deep ; and its depth
is but inconsiderably lessened even by the draught by the
city supply during the period of the year when the rain falls
are least. It is obvious, therefore, 'that Cochituate Lake has
not the requisite conditions for the production of impure
Avater by changes in the organic matter at the bottom.
It appears from representations made by the gate keeper,
that in the first fortnight of October, the exhalations from the
water in the neighborhood of the gate house, were extremely
offensive. Before that time and later, as on the 24th of
November, on the occasion of the visit of the undersigned,
the atmosphere there and elsewhere about the Lake was
untainted. Thus from about the end of September to the
middle of October an unusual instrumentality was operative,
affecting the quality of the water at its entrance to the
aqueduct.
As the Brooklyn reservoir contains about one hundred and
twenty millions* of gallons of water, and as the daily con-
sumption is about eight and a half millions,! not far from a
fortnight would elapse between the entrance of bad water at
the Cochituate gate house and its first appearance in the City.
The peculiar taste was, as already mentioned, first noticed
in Boston about the middle of October.
Since the impure water could not have been derived from
the bottom of the Lake, it must have been supplied to the
surface through some of its tributaries. The character of
these tributaries will be better appreciated from a considera-
tion of the topography of the basin which is drained for the
supply of the Lake. This basin contains 12,077 acres, lying
* 1193583,960. i In October of 1853 it was 8,r>l 2^300.
36 WATER. [Feb.
about equally north and south of the Worcester Railroad. It
supplies to Lake Cochituate two kinds of water ; one through
springs, and the other by surface drainage, as a glance at the
subjoined determinations will show.
Cochituate water, before the water works were commenced
in 1845, contained of foreign matter in 100,000 parts, 3.17*
Dug Pond, Nov. 24th, 1854, - - " " 4.26
Cochituate Lake, _ - _ " " 5.50
Pond South of Worcester Railroad, . « " 7.50
Marsh ground in the neighborhood of
the Framingham station, - - - " " 17.00
As nearly or quite one-half of all the water supplied to
Lake Cochituate flows through the pond south of the Wor-
cester Railroad, and as the resultant mixture of this with
the supplies from other sources has a smaller measure of
foreign matter, it follows that the other sources are purer.
They are springs indeed, the waters of which have been
purified by filtration through the soil. Cochituate Lake is,
as has been aheady remarked, like Dug Pond, for the most
part surrounded by gravelly banks, while the pond south of
the Worcester Railroad communicates directly with an ex-
tensive area of peat, bog, marsh and meadow land, all the
surface drainage of which finds its way through this pond
to the Lake.
Bearing these data in mind, to wit, that about one-half of
the water supplied to Lake Cochituate flows through the pond
south of the Worcester Railroad, that this, with the exception
of that derived from Dug Pond, is for the most part surface
drainage, and that the other half is, in general terms, spring
water, let us glance at the meteorological and other condi-
tions of the region about the Lake during the past season.
The quantity of rain that fell in last July and August was
unusually small. The average for these tv/o months during
the eleven years ending 1851, was
At Cambridge, - - - - 7.29 inches.
Waltham, - . - - 7.09 "
*'SiIlimat), Jr.
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.~No. 9. 37
At Boston, - - - - 6.25 inches.
Lowell, - - . . 7.76 "
Average, - - - - 7.09 "
Taking this average as the quantity that probably fell at
Lake Cochitnate, we have from 1840 to 1851, 7.09 inches.
It was observed to be for 1852, - 10.53 "
« -" " 1853, - 10.04 "
Average for the last two years, - 10.26 "
"■ " " thirteen " - 8.15 "
From July 1st to August 28th, of 1854, the total quantity of
rain that fell was 2.60 inches, of which there fell before July
17th, l.SO inches, leaving only .80 for the latter half of July
and nearly the whole of August.
This quantity is greatly less than the evaporation during
the two warmest months in the year, from the marsh and
. meadow land south of the Worcester Railroad. As a conse-
quence, the smaller bodies of water distributed over this area
would cease to discharge, and, with the elevated temperature,
there would be, in such grounds, extraordinary development
of the microscopic organisms that flourish in stagnant pools,
and which are always found, more or less, in Cochituate
water. With the prolonged drought, these minute forms,
for the most part vegetable, would die and decay.
Another effect of the prolonged drought would be, the
ascent by capillary action of soluble matters, which previous
decay had formed, and which had settled into the soil.
Still another effect of the extreme evaporation and drying
of the porous muck and peat-like soil, would be, its prepara-
tion for condensing any effluvia arising from the decaying
matter about.
To some extent it may be conceived that an occasional fish
that had followed a rivulet too far into the marshes and
meadows, was cut ofl" from return by the gradual drying up
of the water, and so fell to decay.
No dead fish have, however, been observed, and the latter
effect may be regarded as of inconsiderable importance.
The material that would be found ready for solution by
occasional rain-falls would be the juices or extracts of dead
38 WATEE. [Feb.
and decaying microscopic organisms, in more or less advanced
stages of decomposition. Some would be highly volatile,
others less so, and others not at all, at ordinary tempera-
tures.
Now it appears from information obtained at the water
office, that an order was given on the 16th of August to raise
the dam, at the outlet of the pond south of the Worcester
Railroad, and from about the 20th of August no water was
permitted to escape from the pond by the way of Cochitnate
Lake until September 27th, when the extreme depression of
Cocnituate Lake, in consequence of the long continued
drought, made it necessary to let in the reserved water of
Dug Pond.
In the last days of August and the first fortnight of Sep-
tember, there fell 3.60 inches of rain. All the washings of
this body of water were stored up in the pond to be carried
forward with the contribution from Dug Pond.
Thus, during all this period of a month and a half, it
appears that all the extracts of all the accumulations of dead
and decaying microscopic vegetation of a remarkable season,
and developed under circumstances peculiarly favorable to
the extraordinary production of this department of organic
life, spread over an area of several hundred if not more than
a thousand acres, were withheld from going forward to min-
gle with the purer waters of the Lake.
The water that had thus fallen upon an extended warm
land surface and had been drained into a shallow pond easily
heated by the sun, was naturally of a less specific gravity
than the main body of Cochituate Lake. Accordingly, as it
entered the Lake, instead of displacing the water or driving
it forward, it flowed on the top, and though mingling to some
extent with the water below, the surface water was, with all
its offensive attributes, pretty nearly as it passed the Wor-
cester Railroad.
At this time, (the end of September) the unpleasant odor
began to be observed at the Gate House at the entrance to
the aqueduct, and soon after, the water yielding it must have
spread over a great portion of the Lake. The water charged
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 39
with it was at this time on its way to the Brookline Reser-
voir, and a little more than a fortnight later it appeared in
Boston.
On the mornings of November 6th and 7th, the temperature
of the air at the Gate House was 12° F. ; on the 5th it was
at the same hour 23°, and on the Sth 41°. The temperature
of the water below was 53°. There had been ice formed in
all very shallow places, and the water at the surface of the
Lake must have experienced a marked reduction of tempera-
ture. As a natural consequence the surface water sunk, and
the warmer water rose to take its place. -On its way down
it mingled more or less with all the water of the Lake, so
that on November 24th the bad tasting water was found at
all depths from 10 to 50 feet. All water flowing from the
shallow meadow south of the Worcester Railroad, and the
low lands drained into it, were of course colder after the 7th
of November, and as they flowed in constant stream upon
Cochituate Lake, they sunk to the bottom, forcing the pure
water up. The total fall of rain in November, from the 1st
to the 20th, amounting to 6.30 inches, had, with the gradual
decline of the temperature of the air, brought the temperature
of the bottom of the Lake, on November 24th, down to 43°,
while at the surface it was 44°. At this date the taste of the
water flowing in under the Worcester Railroad was astrin-
gent, but had little or no trace of the cucumber taste.
As the water on the 24th November at the surface of the
Lake near the Gate House was sweet, and at 20 feet below
was much less ofl'ensive than that in Boston, and as it takes
about 15 days for water to come from the Lake to the City,
it may be expected that about the 10th of this month the
water in the City will begin decidedly to improve, and soon
after will have regained its remarkably pure taste.
The bodies of offensive taste and smell are volatile. By
passing a few gallons of water through a tube containing
loose cotton, the matter ordinarily separated by a common
filter may be caught, and the cotton, first absorbing, will
after impart the offensive effluvium, and greatly facilitate the
40 WATER. ^ [Feb.
perception of the odor. By corking the tube the odor may
be preserved upon the cotton for days.
Water collected on the 24th of November from a depth of
30 feet in Cochituate Lake, and kept in a nearly filled and
corked jug, on opening some hours after, gave in the first
draught the disagreeable flavor; a short time after, it had
nearly lost it. The volatile matter had risen from the whole
body of water to its surface in the neck. This fact will
explain the comparative exemption from bad taste of the
water of particular localities, and the unequal offensiveness
of the water in other parts of the City. Where the service
pipe leads from the end of a descending branch, the flavor
will tend to rise to the more elevated portions near the main,
and if but little is drawn, the water will be less impure. Or
where there is an ascending branch, the flavor might accu-
mulate near the more elevated extreme, and the intensity of
the off'ensiveness be modified by the frequency of use and
quantity of water discharged. Confined in the pipes, there
is no opportunity for the volatile bodies to escape. Drawn
and permitted to stand a few hours, or boiled for a few
minutes, the water loses its unpleasant flavor. Powdered
charcoal recently ignited will condense the taste and odor in
its pores. A pint of such charcoal so purified 31 gallons
of water passed from a Cochituate service pipe directly
through it, that in the last glass drawn there was scarcely a
trace of unpleasant taste. It also retained the microscopic
vegetable forms which appear in the first dash of water after
reversing a filter, and from which ether extracts the green
coloring matter Chlorophyl. This body consists, as already
remarked, in part of wax, which, separated from ether, floats
upon water, is yielding to the touch, may be converted into
a kind of soap by alkali, and is the only oily substance that
the undersigned has been able to find in the water. In con-
clusion :
The recent peculiar taste of the Cochituate water is, in
the judgment of the undersigned, due chii^fly to extracts
more or less volatile from the decaying minute aquatic organ-
isms, for the most part vegetable, which, during the late
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 41
prolonged drought, have been produced in extraordinary-
quantity upon the low meadows, marshes, bog and peat lands
which supply the surface drainage to Cochituate Lake.
Respectfully submitted,
E. N. HORSFORD.
Cambridge^ December 7, 1854.
Note. Since the presentation of the above Report, some
new facts have been elicited, bearing npon the origin of the
recent peculiar taste of the Cochituate water, which it is
desirable permanently to record.
A visit has been made to two ponds in the neighborhood
of Haverhill, the waters of which, according to Dr. Nichols,
have occasionally suffered deterioration. From one of them,
Round Pond, the village aqueduct is supplied. During the
last few months it has been noticed that the taste of Co-
chituate water in Boston, and that of Round Pond water in
Haverhill, have been quite alike. To some the water had a
fishy taste, to others, the taste of cucumbers. At the imme-
diate surface where the ice had been removed, the water was
without taste. At a depth of but two or three inches, how-
ever, the peculiar taste was distinctly perceptible. It pre-
vailed at all depths, and more or less in all parts of the pond,
except about the inlet, where the water was tasteless. The
varying ofFensiveness of the taste in some parts of the cir-
culation, in the village, and its total absence in others, have
been noticed as they have in Boston, and are due to the
same causes.
Mud procured from the bottom of Round Pond, and also
from Great Pond, the other sheet of water visited, proved on
chemical and microscopical examination to be like that from
42 * WATER. [Feb.
Lake Cochituate, Dug Pond, and the aqueduct between
Brookline and the gate house. It presented many of the
forms figured in the Report of the Water Board for 1852.
With the exception of a small area of bog land on either
side of the little inlet, the shores of Round Pond are gravelly
knolls. No dead fish or eels have been seen within or about
the pond during the past season, nor during or immediately
preceding periods, when in former years, the same taste has
prevailed ; but the fish have been remarked to be more slug-
gish in their movements, just before than just after the prev-
alence of the unusual taste.
Dr. Nichols has suggested that the fish, by reason of the
prolonged drought and suspended supply of fresh aerated
water, sickened, and on the return of abundant rains, cast off
simultaneously and in unusual quantity their slimy coats,
which dissolved in the water and imparted to it the offensive
flavor. This view is strengthened by the fact that a filter
through which five hundred gallons of the water were
passed, yielded an odor strongly resembling that of recently
caught fresh fish. The filter yielded also on rinsing, beside
vegetable forms, a large number of crustaceans, similar to
those in the Cochituate, which have been examined by Dr.
Bacon and Dr. Hayes, and in which, with the aid of a
microscope, it was not difficult to see oil globules.
The water from Great Pond, taken from various depths,
possessed very faintly the taste of that from Round Pond.
Samples from both ponds became tasteless after a few hours
exposure.
Jamaica Pond, which is said for many years to have had
occasionally to a slight extent the same taste as the Cochitu-
ate, and for short periods, in some portions, during the last
Autumn, was also visited. There was a taste astringent and
a little peculiar, but not like that of the Cochituate. That
at the surface and at various depths to forty feet, were alike
in this respect.
Several wells in the neighborhood of Boston, have, it is
said, been similarly affected during the months of September
and October, and occasionally for short periods in past years.
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 43
Filters have been examined which have from time to time
strained various quantities of Cochituate water, from fifty
gallons to 36 barrels. In the rinsings of the first filters, no
living crustaceans were seen, and with the exception of a few
fragments of the legs of crustaceans and insects, and a very
few inferior animal forms, the whole deposit was vegetable.
In the rinsings of the later filters, the proportion of minute
animal forms had increased, and still later, numerous crusta-
ceans were visible. From the size or inclination of neigh-
boring mains, or perhaps from the comparative quiet of the
water, there would seem to be more animal forms at some
points in the circulation than at others.
One of the first deposits, after being rinsed from the filter,
was permitted to settle, and the water above poured off. It
had the offensive taste of the Cochituate. The deposit, with
a little distilled water, was then bottled and corked up, and
is still preserved. Upon opening the bottle, from time to
time, it continued to exhale the odor, and the water to pos-
sess the taste of cucumbers — such a taste as might have been
expected from an infusion of minute algae. The water
poured off from the deposit soon recovered its purity.
The deposit of a later date on a filter which had strained
36 barrels of water, and which contained, as was estimated,
about one-tenth of animal forms, was bottled and corked up
with a quantity of distilled water, and set aside. After a few
days, on opening, it yielded an offensive odor — not of fish or
cucumbers, but rather of putrefactive fermentation. The
distilled water was renewed every three or four days for
more than a month, and yet it continued to exhale the offen-
sive odor. This deposit, it will be remarked, was all the
insoluble organic matter of 36 barrels of water, covered by
not more than half a pint of distilled water. It would prob-
ably in its dry state, not amount to more than two thimbles
full.
The presence of oil globules in some of the slender animal
forms, the ready extraction of them by ether, and their
saponification, coupled with the peculiar odor which attends
the decay of these creatures, has been conceived to lend
44 WATEE. [Feb.
support to the idea that the odor was due to oil, and the oil
to dead fish, upon which these minute animals have fed.
The presence of the taste at the Lake relieved the sus-
picion that dead fish or eels were lodged in the pipes. The
absence of dead fish from the borders of the Lake, has been
remarked by persons whose duties gave them frequent oppor-
tunities for observation. It is difficult to conceive how
sufficient numbers of dead fish to impregnate all parts of
Cochituate Lake, could be present in the water, and yet no
fragments of them anywhere be found. But whatever this
difficulty may be, there is another arising out of the above
view, of greater moment. Oil, mingled with water by agita-
tion, upon coming to rest, rises to the surface. Now if the
taste at the Lake were due to fish oil, the surface water
should have been offensive in the last degree, if not coated
with a thin film of oil : whereas, in fact, the surface water
has been tasteless, no oil has been observed upon it, and only
the water below has been characterized by the peculiar flavor.
The facts that have been observed since the middle of
December, would seem to find full explanation in the consid-
eration that the crustaceans feeding upon inferior forms of
life, (not dead fish) have merely gathered into lesser compass
portions of the matter which the drought of the past season
has developed. When they die and decay, an unusual meas-
ure of the source of unpleasant flavor is concentrated in their
remains.
The following determinations may be of value for future
reference.
Caught on a filter, Dec. 21, from 24 barrels
of Cochituate water —
Dried at 212° Fah., 0.3320 grammes.
Deposit in the aqueduct above the Brook-
line Reservoir, exceedingly offensive for a
few days, and then becoming tasteless —
Dried at 212° Fah., 0.8515 grammes.
Gave Organic, 0.1215 "
Inorganic, 0.7300 "
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 45
Deposit from bottom of Cochituate Lake,
at a depth of 55 feet —
Dried at 212° Fah., 0.2850 gr.
Gave Organic, 0.0635 "
Inorganic, 0.2215 "
Deposit from bottom of Round Pond, Ha-
verhill —
Dried at 212° Fah., 0.2655 gr.
Gave Organic, 0.0935 "
Inorganic, 0.1720 "
Aqueduct water at Haverhill —
400cc. gave Residue, 0.0145 gr.
Organic, 0.0070 "
Inorganic, 0.0080 "
Great Pond water, 15 ft. below surface —
400cc. gave Residue, 0.0155 gr.
Organic, 0.0075 "
Inorganic, 0.0080 "
Cochituate Lake, Dec. 21 —
400cc. gave Residue, 0.0170 gr.
Organic, 0090 "
Inorganic, 0.0080 "
DR. JACKSON'S EEPORT.
32 Somerset street,
Boston, December 6th, 1854.
Thomas Wetmore, Esq.,
President of the Cochituate Water Board.
Dear Sir : — During the latter part of the month of Octo-
ber last, a peculiar flavor of an unpleasant nature was per-
ceived in the Cochituate water delivered by aqueducts in the
City of Boston, and an investigation was ordered by you for
the discovery of the nature and causes of this change in the
taste of the water.
On the 18th and 20th of November I was called upon by
E. S. Chesbrough, Esq., the City Engineer, who sent me
two demijohns of water marked " Nos. 2 and 4," with a
request that I should make chemical analysis of their con-
tents. The quantity of water in each demijohn was two
gallons.
I was not informed of the source from which the waters
were taken, since it was desirable to obtain my independent
testimony without any possible bias being suspected by any
one.
Chemical analysis of water marked " No. 2."
The taste of this water was unobjectionable, and was like
that of Cochituate water when not regarded as impure.
Many persons tasted it and found no unpleasant flavor or
smell in it.
The water was thoroughly shaken up in the demijohn and
one imperial gallon was measured out for analysis. This
was evaporated at a gentle heat to small bulk in a porcelain
basin, and then the evaporation was completed in a platinum
capsule over boiling water. The residual matter obtained
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 47
was dried at a temperature of 212° F. and weighed 3.18
grains. The matter destructible by heat was then burned
off, and gave only the odor of burning peat without any
smell of burning animal matter. The loss by combustion
was 1.3 grains, which is that of the vegetable matter.
The mineral substances remaining weighed 1.88 grains.
On analysis of these matters I found them to contain silica,
alumina, oxide of iron, lime, traces of magnesia, soda, chlorine,
sulphuric acid, and traces of phosphoric acid.
As they existed in the water these matters were chiefly
Crenate of lime and crenate of iron. -
Sulphate of lime traces.
Sulphate of soda.
Chloride of sodium.
Chloride of magnesium.
The organic matter was examined in a separate portion of
the water, and found to be chiefly crenic acid, without any
apocrenic acid. No oily or animal matters were found, nor
was the chlorophyle and wax subsequently discovered by me
in other samples of water sought for in this water, it having
all been used up in the above researches.
Water marked " No. 4."
The origin of this water was not made known to me.
No unpleasant taste or smell could be discovered in it by
me or by other persons whom I requested to taste it.
One imperial gallon, equal to 70,000 grains, of this water
was taken for analysis, and evaporated to small bulk in a
porcelain bowl, and the evaporation was completed by a
steam heat at 212° in a platinum capsule. The residual
matter obtained weighed 3.4 grains, of which 1.5 grains is
vegetable matter, and 1.9 grains mineral matters, consisting
of silicia, alumina, oxide of iron, lime, traces of magnesia,
chlorine and sulphuric acid. Their proportions were
Silicia and sulphate of lime, - - 0.30
Oxide of iron and alumina, - - - 1.00
Lime, 0.34
Other matters not weighed, - - - 0.26
1.90
48 * WATER. [Feb.
The principal organic acid is the crenic, derived from the
decay of vegetable matters under water. ]\o odor of animal
matter could be discovered by burning the dry residue ob-
tained by evaporation of the Y^^ater.
After I had completed these analyses, I was invited to
accompany you with Mr. Chesbrough and Prof. E. N. Hors-
ford, on a visit to Cochituate lake and its environs, to exam-
ine the lake and the water shed into it, for the purpose of
discovering, if possible, the origin of the foreign matters
complained of in the water.
We visited all parts of the lake, tasted of the water at
every tributary lake and stream, and that drawn by a hose
from various depths in the lake. We found the surface water
free from any unpleasant taste, it being rain water that had
fallen, and which had not then commingled with the lake
water, on which it rested.
Water drawn from a lower depth had that peculiar flavor
which we find in the aqueduct water in Boston, and this
taste was strongest at the depth of from 19 to 39 feet from
the surface. We also perceived it quite strong in the water
at the gate house, where a stratum 8 feet from the surface
enters the conduit.
We all agreed in opinion that the taste resembled that of
water in which cucumbers had been soaked. We filled
several demijohns with the water, drawn from various depths
of from 19 to 49 feet, samples being taken from every 10
feet in depth by means of a pump and hose attached to a
sounding line and lead. These samples of one gallon each,
were divided between Prof. Horsford and myself by your
orders.
The temperature of the water at the gate house was 431",
that of the air being 53°. At the bottom of the lake the
thermometer stood at 44°, hence the water at the bottom of
the lake is a little warmer than that of the surface. The
records of the superintendent of the lake show, that during
the month of July last the temperature of the water was in
the gate house 73° F.
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 49
Having obtained our samples of the lake water, we next
examined the stream from the Cranberry meadow, and found
it tasted like rain water, and had no peculiar taste like that
of the deep water of the lake. This meadow is flowed, and
there are an abundance of fishes living in its waters ; and we
learned from a person living near the spot, that no dead fish
had been seen on its shores this year, though there were
great numbers of them thrown upon its shores year before
last.
Dug Pond has very pure and transparent water, quite free
from any taste of foreign matters. This water discharges
into Cochituate Lake through Fiske's meadow, a peat bog,
and in its course it becomes highly colored by a solution of
peat, which gives it an amber tint, but it has no unpleasant
taste. The water falls over a dam of a few feet in height,
and the engineer, on gauging the water, estimates nine mil-
lion gallons per day as the discharge of this water into Co-
chituate Lake.
We rode all around the country that is drained into
Cochituate Lake, and tasted of every streamlet or collection
of water, and did not observe in any of those waters that
peculiar flavor which we had found in the deep water of
Lake Cochituate. It would seem, therefore, that either the
bad tasting stratum of water had entered the lake some time
since, or that it has derived its peculiar taste from ferment-
ing vegetable matters at its bottom.
If the bottom water had become charged with a vegetable
infusion during the heat of summer and autumn, it could not
rise to the surface until the top water was cooled down to
such a degree as to render it denser than the water below, so
as to descend and displace it.
The maximum density of water is at 39.2° F., while the
water at the gate-house has been at 78° in July and August,
and is now at the bottom 44°. It is evident that if the sur-
face water during cold nights should descend to 39.2° that it
would descend and displace the lower strata of water, and
cause them to rise. This would take place at less differences
of temperature at slower rates, exactly proportioned to the
50
WATEE.
[Feb.
differences of temperature, provicied the upper strata should
be coldest ; but the reverse could not take place, hence warm
water does not descend to displace cold water, unless the
temperature of the lower water should be considerable below
39.2° when it would be lighter, as may be seen from the
following table, extracted from Berzelius's Traite de Chimie,
Vol. 1st, p. 365.
Table of the density and volume of water, unity being
taken at the temperature of the greatest density of water,
4° 0.=39.2 F.
Temperature.
Specific Gravity.
Volume.
0.9998918 -
1.0001082
1
0.9999382 -
1.0000617
2
0.9999717 -
1.0000281
3
0.9999920 -
1.0000078
*4
1
1
5
0.9999950 -
1.0000050
6
0.9999772 -
1.0000226
7
0.9999472 -
1.0000527
8
0.9999044 -
1.0000954
9
0.9998497 -
1.0001501
10
0.9997825 -
1.0002200
11
0.9997030 -
1.0002970
12
0.9996117 -
1.0003888
13
0.9995080 -
1.0004924
14
0.9993922 -
1.0006081
15
0.9992647 -
1.0007357
16
0.9991260 -
1.0008747
17
0.9989752 -
1.0010259
18
0.9988125 -
1.00118S8
19
0.99.S6387 -
1.0013631
20
0.9984534 -
1.0015490
21
0.9982570 -
1.0017560
22
0.9980489 -
1.0019549
23
0.9978300 -
1.0021746
24
0.9976000 -
1.0024058
25
0.9973587 -
1.0026483
26
0.9971070 -
1.0029016
27
0.9968439 -
1.0031662
28
0.9965704 -
1.0034414
29
0.9962864 -
1.0037274
30
0.9959917 -
1.0040245
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 51
I have copied the degrees as given centigrade, in order to
avoid the fractions which would result from the reduction of
them to the Fahrenheit scale.
Those who wish to convert any of the degrees centigrade
to Fahrenheit, have only to multiply the centigrade degrees
by 9j divide the product by 5, and add 32°.
43° F. is equal to 6.11° centigrade.
44° " 6.67° «
73° " 22.78° "
By comparing these degrees with the table above given
the relative specific gravity of water at these temperatures
will be seen, and may be compared with that at 4° C. or
39.2° F, as unity. This table may be useful to engineers of
water works, and therefore I recommend its publication
in the Water Report.
It is well known that the bad taste of Gochituate Lake
water came on soon after the sudden cold weather of the
middle and latter part of the month of October, and perhaps
this sudden change of temperature may account for the
rising of the lower strata of water, so as to cause them to run
into the conduits.
Again, it has been supposed that the sudden fall of the forest
leaves, full of their juices at the time, and charged with green
chlorophyle may account for the singular fact of the appear-
ance of this vegetable coloring matter in the water of the
lake, for the heavy rains that fell soon after the fall of the
leaves, would wash much of this matter (set free by fermen-
tation,) into the Lake. It is also highly probable, that the
wax and vegetable oil came from fermenting foliage.
The mucilaginous matters in leaves of trees undergoes a
rapid fermentation when kept moist, and gives rise to various
disagreeable products which diifer with the nature of the
foliage.
It is probable therefore, that we may be able to trace the
peculiar taste of Gochituate water to some such source.
52 WATER. [Feb.
Chemical analysis of Water taken from Cochituate Lake,
November 24,th, 1854. Water drawn 19 feet below the
surface of the Lake.
It has the flavor of water in which cucumbers have been
soaked, but has not any perceptible odor.
One imperial gallon, equal to 70,000 grains weight, evapo-
rated carefully to small bulk by a moderate heat, and the
evaporation completed in a platinum capsule at 212° left
3.223 grains of brown matter, which adheres to the platinum.
This digested in ether, and again dried to 212 lost 0.093
grains. The ether evaporated in a small capsule, left a rim
of green matter, identical with that which by other experi-
ments on the aqueduct water, I have previously proved to be
chlorophyle and wax with a little fixed oil.
The remaining organic matter, which was insoluble in
ether, I burned off, and found to amount to 1.430 grains, and
the mineral matters left amounted to 1.800 grains. The
results were : —
Chlorophyle wax and oil, - - - 0.093
Vegetable matters insoluble in ether, - 1.430
Mineral matters, _ _ _ _ 1,800
Whole contents of one gallon, 3.323
The water drawn from a depth of 49 feet, which is about
10 feet from the bottom of the Lake opposite the gate house,
was found to give but 3.2 grains of solid matter per imperial
gallon, and was in all respects like that obtained at the depth
of 39 feet, and does not essentially differ from that of 19 feet
depth in the quantity of foreign matters contained in it,
though the lower water appeared at the time it was drawn to
be a little more charged with the cucumber taste.
This flavor I find to be extremely evanescent, for it dis-
appears in three or four days wholly from the water, even
when it is closely corked up in demijohns and kept in a cool
place.
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— ISlo. 9. 53
So it was found that when we had put up demijohns of
the aqeduct water, while it tasted most strongly, and after a
few days uncorked tnem to taste the water or to submit the
samples to chemical examination, the peculiar flavor would
be entirely gone, and the water was found to be in every
respect quite sweet and good. The same fact has been
noticed by numerous persons in this City, and is well known
at the water board office, where samples of the worst tasting
water became quite good in less than a week after they were
left at the office by complainants. This I have verified by
numerous experiments, and by inquiry of others. Thus,
when the water is contained in a tank in the upper part of a
house, it loses it disagreeable flavor, while that drawn directly
from the pipes has in it a marked degree.
So we found when we visited the dead ends of the water
pipes, where but little water was drawn, that no unpleasant
taste had ever been perceived by those using it. The water
had undergone the same changes in the iron pipes which we
had noticed in that we had kept in demijohns. This we
observed most remarkably in a dead end of the pipe on the
mill-dam, while we found the water at the reservoir possess-
ing the cucumber flavor.
The " flushing off" of the pipes has, as I learn, in most
every case augmented the complaints against the water, and
thus still farther proved our opinion to be correct, that the
impurities are in the Lake itself, and not in the pipes.
In stating this opinion, I would not wish to be understood
as denying that, in some particular cases, there may have
been found fishes in the distribution pipes. Their occasional
occurrence is fortuitous, and cannot always be entirely
avoided, but what I wish to say is that the general bad taste
in the water is not derived from fishes, nor from any animal
matter whatever in the water, or in the main pipes of the
aqueduct.
The matters present are all of a vegetable origin, and the
substance giving the peculiar bad flavor is so readily decom-
posable, as to undergo entire decomposition, so as to disap-
pear in a very short time. I therefore confidently predict
54 WATER. [Feb.
the speedy return of Cochituate Lake to its accustomed
purity.
Perhaps the sealing up of the Lake by ice, which will soon
form, will aid in changing the character of the water, since
we have observed that the water closed up in our jars, and
in water pipes and in tanks, becomes speedily pure.
I may also call your attention to the important fact that
since the aqueduct was laid Cochituate water has been
gradually improving, and now does not contain but little
more than half as much solid matter per gallon as it did in
1845. I refer to my analyses published by the water Com-
missioners of that year in proof of this point, and beg leave
here to append an extract from that report :-
Extract from Dr. C. T. Jackso7i^s Report of Analysis of
Water of Long Pond, Natick.
Boston, February 1st, 1855.
" Messrs. Wm. Parker, James Hayward, and T. B. Curtis.
Gentlemen :
At your request I visited Long Pond, in Natick, on
Tuesday last, and obtained specimens of the water from each
of the three divisions of that pond, and have since made a
chemical analysis of each sample, the results of which I now
communicate.
Specimen No. 1 was taken thirty rods from the shore, and
opposite the place where, according to the plan given me by
by Mr, James F. Baldwin, the proposed aqueduct is to com-
mence.
No. 2 was taken near the middle of the central division of
the pond, nearly opposite the house of Widow Coggins, and
four hundred paces from the shore.
No. 3 was taken from near the middle of the upper division
of the pond, opposite the house of Mr. Morse, and about four
hundred yards from the shore.
The water was obtained by cutting holes through about
ten inches of ice, and was drawn up by means of a tin
bucket, and poured into clean glass jars and demijohns,
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 55
which were closely stopped, and brought to my laboratory in
Boston for analysis.
Chemical Analysis of the Water of Long Pond.
One imperial English gallon, equal to 70,000 grains of
distilled water at 60° F., or to 277.274 cubic inches in bulk,
of each sample, yield the following amounts of vegetable and
mineral matters, when evaporated to entire dryness, and on
separation of the ingredients.
Long Pond Water No. 1 [Loioer Pond).
Vegetable matter destructible by heat, 2.4 grains.
Mineral matter (earths and salts), 3.6 "
Whole contents of one gallon of the water, 6.0 "
Long Pond Water No. 2 {Middle Pond).
Vegetable matter destructible by heat, 1.64 grains.
Mineral matter (earths and salts), 3.88 "
Whole contents of one gallon of the water, 5.52 "
Lojig Pond Water No. 3 {Upper Pond').
Vegetable matter destructible by heat, 1.42 grains.
Mineral matter (earths and salts), 2.90 "
Whole contents of one gallon of the water, 4.32 "
The vegetable matter consists of the usual organic acids
of the soil, which are combined with the earthy bases, lime,
magnesia, and with oxides of manganese and iron. These
bases are separated by combustion of the vegetable acids, the
lime and magnesia which they contained, being converted
into carbonates of lime and magnesia.
The salts are chloride of sodiam, or sea salts, sulphate of
lime or gypsum, and sulphate of soda, which are found in the
mineral matter, mixed with a minute quantity of clay and
phosphate of lime, and the earthy bases derived from the
combustion of the organic acid, compounds before noticed.
56 WATER. [Feb.
The foreign matters in this water are in such small pro-
portions, as in no way to impair its healthfulness as a drink,
nor will they prove injurious in washing clothing.
It is somewhat remarkable that the water of the upper di-
vision of the pond should prove the purest, considering the
fact of its overflowing a small peatbog or cranberry meadow,
daring this season of the year. This must result from the
influx of purer water from a neighboring pond, which empties
into Long Pond, by a small stream, traversing the meadow."
At the suggestion of friends I made a chemical examina-
tion of the water from my aqueduct, during the period when
the water had the strongest flavor, and directed my researches
particularly toward the discovery of animal oils in the water.
I prepared a bone black filter expressly for the purpose of
collecting any oleagenous matters that might be in the water,
and allowed the water from my aqueduct to trickle through
this filter continually in rapid drops for 24 hours.
I then took the bone black, and having dried it at a very
moderate heat, subjected it to the action of ether. I then
filtered ofl" the ether, and evaporated it in a current of warm
air to dryness. A yellow substance was obtained, which
was fluid while warm, and which dried on the sides of the
vessel. It was repeatedly dissolved in ether and examined.
It rendered a piece of unsized paper translucent, and acted
like a mixture of wax and oil. It did not saponify with a
strong solution of carbonate of soda, though long boiled with
it, but floated on the surface of the hot solution, and separ-
ated as it cooled in a flake or floating crust. It was mostly
soluble in alcohol, and the alcohol left no oil globules.
Boiled with caustic potash, it saponified like wax. It had
none of the properties of fish oil, and no odor even when
acted upon by caustic potash, and by sulphuric acid. There
may have been present some small proportion of fixed vege-
table oil, but no animal oil could have existed in it. The
softness and fusibility of the wax indicated the presence of a
small proportion of a fixed oil.
I had a felt filter bottom brought to me by Mr. Holbrook,
the clerk of the Water Board. This filter had been used for
1855.] CITY DOCUMENT.— No. 9. 57
a week, the water having been run through it continually.
I examined it by dissolving out the green matter with abso-
lute alcohol, and proved it to be chlorophyle. I dissolved
out next whatever was soluble in ether, and found wax and
some chlorophyle. This filter furnished enough of the green
matter to enable me to pass it through all the usual tests to
prove its nature. Part of it was soluble in acetic acid, and
part not, the matter left being vegetable wax. I could not
find any oil in the matter taken up by ether from this filter.
In connection with this subject, I made a series of direct
experiments on the oil obtained by maceration of eels in
water, examining both the fresh and the rancid oil, and the
odors produced during their saponification, and that given
out from them by the action of sulphuric acid, and am pre-
pared to state confidently, that there is no such oil in any of the
waters which have been examined by me for its presence.
Fish oil is, when in water, quite permanent, and would be
seen floating on the surface and would not disappear by
being kept in a demijohn for a few days, therefore the mat-
ter which gives the peculiar flavor to Cochituate water can-
not be fish oil nor any animal oil.
In order to compare the amount of matters contained in water
drawn directly from the Lake, with that in the water from the
aqueduct pipes in Boston, I took an imperial gallon of the
water from my own aqueduct, and submitted it to analysis
with the following results.
Analysis of water from my aqueduct : —
An imperial gallon of the water was evaporated to small
bulk in porcelain, at a simmering heat, and the evaporation
was completed in platinum at 212°. An oily film was seen
on the surface of the water, but it was not in globules, but in
a delicate film. Great care was used not to decompose this
matter, and it was separated by ether and found to be chlo-
rophyle and wax, not a globule of oil being separated from
it when it was acted upon by alcohol and by acetic acid.
This analysis was repeated the next day, to determine the
proportions of matters soluble in ether, and those not soluble.
58 WATER. [Feb.
One gallon of the water gave 3.1 grains of solid matter,
dry at 212^
Of this, there was soluble in ether, chlorophyle and
wax, 0.09
Vegetable matter not soluble in ether, (the usual
vegetable matters of the water,) - - - 1.20
Mineral matters, - - - - - - 1.81
3.10
This analysis shows that there is very nearly the same
amount of matters soluble in ether in the aqueduct at my
house, as there is in the water obtained directly from the
Lake, while the total solid contents of the water from the
pipes is a trifle less.
This analysis is important as showing the relations be-
tween the water delivered in the City and that of the Lake;
In conclusion, I would assure you and the citizens of Bos-
ton, that there is good reason to believe that the unpleasant
taste of Cochituate water is rapidly passing away,- from
operations naturally taking place in the Lake, and that the
water will probably soon be as good as ever.
I regret as much as any one that we have not been able to
settle all the interesting questions that have arisen as to the
origin of the impurity complained of. Thus much we have
done. We have proved that the peculiar taste of the water
does not originate within the pipes, but exists at the fountain
head, and that it is not the result of animal putrefaction, but
of vegetable fermentation, and that there is nothing delete-
rious in the water. These are some points gained. In time
we may search out the other matters, should the evil ever
again recur.
I have the honor to be, with great respect,
Your obedient servant,
CHARLES T. JACKSON, M.D.,
Assay er to the State of Massachusetts, and to the City of Boston
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