Norwalk Chronicler
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Ground Water in the Norwalk, Suffield, and Glastonbury Areas, Connecticut

Harold S. Palmer · 1920 · original scan
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which igneous intrusions have been made in great profusion. There are thin bands of the schist separated and cut by intruded sheets and diJvelets of igneous material. The Thomaston granite gneiss under- lies a strip half a mile wide south of Aspetuck village along Aspe- tuck River, and also most of the area west of Saugatuck River, It is a medium-grained granite and a typical one in that it is composed essentially of quartz, feldspar, and black mica, with small amounts of other minerals. Metamorphism has given it a gneissic texture that is marked by the concentration and parallel orientation of the mica flakes in certain planes. The Danbui';\- granodiorite gneiss underlies part of the valley of the West Branch of Saugatuck River and a small area west of Aspetuck River and north of the village of Aspetuck. It is similar to the Thomaston granite gneiss except that hornblende rather extensively replaces the mica. All the bedrock of Weston carries water in the same way. The rocks are very compact, and no interstitial water is to be obtained from them. However, they are traversed by intricate networks of fissures that cut and connect with one another. These fissures are far more abundant in the upper 200 feet than below. It is to be expected that wells drilled 200 or 300 feet into rock will cut one or more fissures and obtain fair supplies of water that has percolated down from the overlying mantle of earth. No such wells have been made in Weston as far as the present investigation shows. Till. — ^^The bedrock of Weston is everywhere covered with till ex- cept in small areas where the bedrock outcrops in ledges, and along some of the streams where there are deposits of stratified drift. Till is a dense, compact deposit composed of the debris scraped up, ground, and transported by the glacier. Rock flour, clay, silt, and sand form a matrix in which are embedded pebbles, cobbles, and boulders. In general there is no systematic arrangement of the material, and it is perfectly heterogeneous. In some places there are lenses from which the finer particles have been washed away, increasing the po- rosity of the residue. Water that has fallen as rain or melted from snow in part soaks into the ground and tends to saturate it by filling- all the pores. There also is a tendency, particularly on steep slopes, for the water to seep away, leaving the upper part of the till dry. In general wells dug in the till to a reasonable depth will jdeld moderate supplies that will fail only rarely. Those wells that intersect porous lenses in the till are apt to be the more satisfactorj". Unfortunately there is no way of detecting the presence of such lenses except by actual excavation. During October, 1917, 33 wells dug in till were measured in Weston. One was found to be dry, 11 more were said to fail, and 18 to be nonf ailing: the reliability of the remaining wells could not be ascertained. The data collected are given in detail in the table on pages 108-109 and are summarized in the following table ; WKSTON. Sum III a III of //•(7/s- ilii[/ in till in Weston. 107 Tolal depth. Deplh to water. Depth of water in well. Fed. 2H.7 H.O 17.7 Feet. 2:i. H (i.2 14.4 Feel. s.o .a 3.0 ^Sti'af'/fed (Jr/ff. — The areas of stratified drift in Weston are shown on the map (Ph II). These water-hiid deposits are compo.sed of the leworked and sorted constituents of the till and are to be considered as the products of the stream in whose valle^^ tliey lie. The particles composing- the till have been sorted out. The boulders and bigger stones have been left in place, but the sand and still finer grains have been carried away. Most of the finest materials, the clay and silt, have been carried out to sea, but the others have been deposited at points where the current was slow. The larger pebbles and cobbles were deposited with less slowing of the current than were tlie smaller ones. Inasmuch as the velocit}^ varied not only from place to place but also from time to time at any one place, lenses and beds of differ- ent-sized material were laid one on another in very irregular succes- sion. Stratified drift carries water in the same manner as till, but because of the elimination of the smaller particles it has a greater percentage of pore space and the pores are hirger. The ground- water circulation is therefore much more rapid, and stratified drift Avells yield more abundant supplies. Six such wells were visited in AVeston. Five of them are said to be nonf ailing and only one to fail. The data collected are given in detail in the table on page 109 and are summarized in the folloM'ing table: tSuiiriHuri/ of ivcUs diitj in stratified drift in Weston. Total depth. ^- ^^^^- : in well. Feet. Feet. Feci. 33.7 30.7 3.0 15.6 13.7 j 0.3 25.1 23.4 1 1.7 1 QUALITY OF GROUND WATER. The subjoined table gives the results of two analyses and four assays of samples of ground water collected in the town of Weston. The waters are all low in mineral content, very soft, good for use in boilers, and, so far as may be determined by their mineral content, acceptable for domestic use. All are sodium-carbonate in type. 108 GROUIsTD WATER IN NOEWALK AND OTHER AREAS, CONIT. Chemical composition and classification of ground ivaters in Weston.'^ [Parts per million. Collected Dee. 8, 1916; analyzed by Alfred A. Chambers and C. H. Kidwell. Num- bers of analyses and assays eorresiiond to those used on PI. II.] Analvses.'' Assays. < 30 34 Siliea(SiOo) Iron (Fe) Calcium (Ca) Magnesium (Mg) Sodium and potassium (Na+K)'' Carbonate radicle (CO3) Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3) Sulphate radicle (SO4) Chloride radicle (CI) Nitrate radicle (NO3) Total dissolved solids at 180° C Total hardness as CaCOs Scale-forming constituents d Foaming constituents^ Chemical character ■. . Probability of corrosion e Quality for boiler use Quality for domestic use 17 Trace. 6.6 2.0 9.8 .0 28 15 2.3 5.0 75 (i25 40 26 Na-COs (?) Good. Good. 25 .18 3.9 2.0 14 .0 30 6.6 12 .18 67 dl8 40 38 Na-COs N Good. Good. 0.14 0.10 Trace. Trace. 12 .0 38 6.0 2.6 6.0 3.4 .0 34 6.0 3.0 10 .0 32 7.0 2.8 d71 18 45 30 Na-COs N Good. Good. d64 16 40 20 Na-COs N Good. Good. 20 4c 20 Na-COs N Good. Good. <i67 18 45 30 Nat-COs N Good. Good. "For location and other descriptive information see pp. 108-109. ''For methods used in analj'ses and accuracy of results see pp. 52-60. c Approximations; for methods used in assays and reliability of results see pp. 52-60. d Computed. « Based on computed quantity; (?)=eorrosion uncertain, N=noncorrcsive. RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. Only one spring (No. 11, PL II) was visited in Weston. It is on a hillside and its water is piped by gravity to the house below. WcUs dug in till in Weston. No. on PI. TI. Owner. Topographic situation. Eleva- tion above sea level. Total depth. Depth to water. Depth of water in well. Rig. Remarks. 1 Slope do Feet. 360 390 340 370 425 310 315 270 330 400 380 425 425 350 250 215 315 155 295 190 300 420 360 315 Feet. 8.9 22.5 22.6 24.8 15.3 22.5 16.6 11.7 11.6 10.9 28.2 21.5 13.7 15.6 13.8 11.5 11.6 16.3 11.8 17.2 18.4 21.0 28.7 17.7 Feet. 6.9 21.8 18.9 'i4V4' 21.7 14.8 9.0 7.4 6.2 23.2 18.4 1L2 15.3 12.0 7.9 9.7 14.6 7.7 14.9 15.1 16.4 23.8 12.3 Feet. 2.0 0.7 3.7 Dry. 0.9 0.8 1.8 2.7 4.2 ■ 4.7 5.0 3.1 2.5 0.3 1.8 3.6 1.9 L7 4.1 2.3 3.3 4.6 4.9 5.4 Chain pump do Fails. 2 Do. 3 ...do Windlass rig Two-bucket rig. . do Nonfailing. Fails. 4 ....do 5 . ...do Do. 6 do do Do. 7 do do Nonfailirig. Do. 8 .do do 9 do do Do. 10 do . .do Fails. 12 do \Vin41ass rig Chain pump Sweep rig Two bucket rig. . do Do. 14 . .do Do. 15 do 16 do Do. 17 .do Nonfailing. 18 19 Lafayette Beers do do Sweep rig Windlass rig House pump and two-bucket rig. do Nonfailing. For analysis see p. 108. Fails. 20 21 F. W. Hawly.. do Swale Plain Knoll Slope Hilltop Slope Nonfailing. Do. , 22 23 Mary L. Fanton Two-bucket rig. House pump and windlass rig. M^indlass and counterbal- ance rig. do Nonfailing. For assay see p. 108. Nonfailing. 24 Do. 26 Fails. 27 John R.Cole... do Nonfailing. For analysis see p. 108. WESTPOKT. 109 W<llfi (Itti/ in fill in AVcslon — Continued. No. on PI. U. Owner. Topographic situation. Eleva- tion above sea level. Total depth. Depth to water. Depth of water in well. Uig. Remarks. 2S do Feet. 325 315 190 280 100 225 230 110 Feet. 21.0 21.0 17.5 20.8 m. 4 15.4 14.5 24.8 Feet. 10.7 Feet. 4 3 Two-bucket rig.. Wheel and axle rig- Two-bucket rig.. ..do 29 ...do. 17.7 3.3 Nonfailing. Fails. For as- say see p. 108. Nonfailing. Nonfailing. For assay see p. 108. Nonfailing. Do 30 31 Mrs. Sutum do HIateau Slope do 16.3 12.8 12.8 12.6 10.3 23.8 1.2 8.0 3.6 2.8 4.2 1.0 34 3:. (!. Jacob! Deep-wellpump andhousepump One-bucket rig.. Two-bucket rig.. Windlass rig 3r> Ho 37 do Do Wells dug in stratified drift in Weston. ^-™| owner. 1 i Topographic situation. Eleva- tion above sea level. Total depth. Depth to water. Depth of water in well. Rig. Remarks. 13 25 Slope Feet. 180 ISO 80 95 130 125 Feet. 15.6 31.0 2,817 33.7 21.5 20.3 Feet. 13.7 30.7 2.5.8 30.7 20.1 19.6 Feet. 1.9 .3 2.9 3.0 1.4 . 7 Two-bucket rig. Windlass rig . . . Two-bucket rig. do do Plain Slope do Plain do Fails. 32 Nonfailing. Do. Nonfailing. For assay see p. 108. Nonfailing. 33 38 Harriet B.Cciey 39 Windlass rig . . . WESTPORT. AREA, POPULATION. AND IXDU.STKIES.
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