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

moat part it consists of clean sand, such as is shown in Phite XI, A, which is a view of a sand pit in the northern part of Thomp- sonville bolonjifing to O. H. Pease. The sandy portions of the stratitied drift and the less abundant gravels were deposited by streams that issued from the front of the glacier during its reces- sion. The climate at the end of the glacial epoch was such that great volumes of ice were melted and gave rise to vigorous streams. In the lower lying portions of Connecticut, and especially in the valleys of Connecticut and Farmington rivers, these streams depos- ited extensive plains known as outwash plains. During part of the time there were lakes in front or south of the ice front, and in them very fine grained silt and clay were deposited. These clays are the raw material for the brick industry of the Connecticut Valley, and have been worked in Thompsonville. They yield no significant amount of water, but may be of importance in restricting and con- centrating the flow of ground water in other more porous horizons. The sands and gravels of the stratified drift are excellent bearers of ground water, as they are not only highly porous but also very permeable. The effect of the washing has been to leave in each bed only grains of a size, and this results in high porosity. The grains themselves are relatively coarse, so that the interstices between them are large and they transmit water readily. The absorption of rain water and its transmission arc the same in manner as in the till, but on a more vigorous scale, so that much more water may be recov- ered. Plate XI, B^ shows about 5 feet of stratified drift overly- ing about T feet of till in an excavation for a building in Thomp- sonville. The sand and gravel are quite dry, because the water has drained from their coarse pores, whereas the till is still moist, be- cause its line pores have retained much of their water. The light band at the top of the till is quite as moist as the dark part below. Its lighter color is due not to drjmess but to the fact that it was exposed to weathering and oxidation before it was co^/ered. over by the stratified drift. Measurements were made of 48 wells dug in stratified drift in Enfield in August, 1916. The reliability of all but 10 was ascer- tained; 34 were said never to fail and 4 were said to fail. The data concerning the depths of these wells are summarized in the follow- ing table : Summary of tvells dug in stratified drift in Enfield. Total depth. Depth to water. Depth ol' water in well. Maximum Fed. 27.3 7.3 14.3 Feet. 24.5 3.2 9.0 Feet. 16.2 1 4 Minimum 5.3 136 GROUND WATER IF InTORWALK AND OTHER AREAS, CONlsT. Wherever the groiind surface has been cut low enough, as for example along streams, the water table is reached, and springs or seeps are found. Along the steep slope that bounds the flood plain of Scantic River there are numerous such springs, some of which have large yields. QUALITY or GROUND WATER. The subjoined table gives the results of two analyses and four assays of samples of ground waters collected in the town of Enfield. The waters are low in mineral content except Noa. 31 and 29, which are moderately m.ineralized. Nos. 30 and 52 are very soft waters,, Nos. 1 and 53 are soft waters, and Nos. 31 and 29 are hard waters for this area. All are classified as good so far as their chemical character may affect their suitability for domestic use. I^os. 31, 1, and 29 are classified as fair for boiler use because there is in each a considerable amount of scale-forming ingredients. The rest are so low in scale-forming and foaming ingredients that they are consid- ered good for boiler use, although the probability of corrosion is un- certain and will be determined by actual operating conditions. Chemical composition and classification of (ground xcaters in Enfield.°- [Parts per million. Collected November 17, 1916 ; analyzed by Alfred A. Chambers and C. H. Kidwell. Numbers of analyses and assays correspond to those used on PI. IV.] Analyses. 6 Assays, c 53 Silica (Si02) Iron (Fe) Calcium (Ca) Magnesium (Mg) Sodium and potassium (Na+K) d 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 Foaining constituents d Chemical character. Probabilitj^ of corrosion; . Quality for boiler use Quahty for domestic use. 17 .04 9.7 2.6 13 .0 40 17 3.9 7.9 94 (2 35 50 35 Na-COs (?) • Good. Good. 27 .09 52 8.0 30 4.8 98 128 3.8 Trace. 303 (2163 190 81 Ca-SO< (?) Fair. Good. Trace. Trace. Trace. .0 22 29 19 105 36 78 7 .0 35 7.0 3.6 110 (0 Ca-SCi (?) Fair. Good. d300 151 180 110 Ca-Cl (?) Fair. Good. (2 71 28 55 20 Ca-COs N Good. Good. (2120 58 85 40 Ca-COs (?) Good. Good. a For location and other descriptive information see pp. 137-139 f> For methods used in analyses and accuracy of results see pp. 52-60. c Approximations; for methods used in assaj^s and reUability of results see pp. 52-60. (J Computed. « Less than 10 parts per million. / Based on computed quantity; (?)=corrosion uncertain, N=noncorrosive. PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES. Water has been supplied to the residents of Thompsonville and to a few in Suffield, on the west bank of Connecticut River, by the Thompsonville Water Co. since 1885. Water is obtained from ENFIELD. 137 sprinos in the vallej'^ of Grape Brook in the northern part of the town and is run into two reservoirs of l,()tK),0(K) and 8,(KK),()0() gal- lons capacity, respectively. Steam-driven reciprocating pumps, with a capacity of 2,(X)0,0()0 o-allons a day, deliver the water to an elevated tank with a capacity of 500,000 gallons on the ridge at the north end of Enfield Street. The water is distributed by gravity under a pressure of about TO pounds to the square inch, through 34 miles of main pipe to 163 fire hydrants and 1,386 service taps. The average daily consumption by the 9,300 people served is about 423,000 gallons.^ Mr. Walter P. Schwabe, the manager, says that the introduction of meters has reduced the consumption at least 25 per cent. It is plamied to replace the present pumping equipment with an electrically dri\en centrifugal pump with a capacity of 1,000 gallons a minute. The consumption now is almost as great as the yield of the springs. As Enfield is relatively low and level it will very probably be necessary to develop a ground-w^ater supply, which could readily be done by means of batteries of w^ells driven across one of the brook valleys in the northern part of the town. Since 1892 the Hazardville Water Co. has served residents of Hazardville and Scitico. Water is obtained from springs near Haz- ardville and from a well 8 inches in diameter drilled in the sand- stone. A cjdinder pump, 48 by 6 inches, at a depth of 150 feet in the well is driven by a steam engine and delivers 10,000 gallons an hour to tw^o elevated tanks which have a capacity of 30,000 and 50,000 gallons. From them the water is distributed by gravity under a pressure of 25 to 40 pounds to the square inch through 4 miles of main pipe to 18 fire hydrants and 222 service taps. There are 154 customers in Hazardville and 36 in Scitico, and the average daily consumption by the 1,100 people supplied is 35,600 gallons.^ KECOKDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. Wells dug in till in Enfield. No. on PI. IV. Topographic situation. Elevation above sea level. Total depth. Depth to water. Depth of water in well. Rig- Remarks. 51 Plam Hill do Feet. 205 260 260 Feet. 15. 18.2 23.8 Feet. 11. 8.2 11.4 Feet. 4. 10. 12.3 Nonfailing. Nonfailing. Abandoned. 67 No rig 68 Chain pump . . Nonfailing. 1 Rept. Connecticut Public Utilities Commission, 1917. 138 GROUND WATER IIs^ NORWALK AND OTHER AREAS, CONN. V/ells (lug in stratified drift m Enfield. No. on PI. IV. Owner. Topo- graphic situation. ft o o ft -ci '-• +^ "^ • ft OS'S ® ^ ^ Rig. Remarks. 1 2 C. E. Pease Plain do Feet. 95 105 125 160 190 160 160 145 165 165 165 180 150 145 120 145 145 110 145 105 145 100 145 145 155 150 140 140 145 135 130 1.35 130 130 125 115 125 120 125 105 165 185 175 175 160 135 95 190 Feet. 18.4 13.5 10.2 11.2 12.8 13.1 12.4 11.8 18.5 13.4 13.0 27.3 21.0 21.7 23.3 13.2 17.6 10.6 15.1 22.9 14.6 10.7 12.1 16.2 13.4 13.6 8.2 15.9 11.3 9.0 9.1 12.9 11.4 11.5 10.1 16.5 7.3 9.8 11.9 12.0 24.3 16.0 14.8 15.9 26.4 11.2 8.1 11.8 Feet. 15.8 8.8 6.3 5.8 7.7 10.9 8.9 8.7 11.1 9.2 8.4 20.1 9.1 11.7 7.1 6.7 9.6 6.8 6.9 8.5 7.2 7.1 7.0 8.8 9.7 8.0 4.9 13.7 8.2 6.7 7.0 11.5 7.1 7.9 4.0 12.0 4.5 5.2 6.4 7.4 19.0 8.2 9.1 12.0 24.5 5.3 4.7 9.5 Feet. 2.6 4.7 3.9 5.4 5.1 2.2 3.5 3.1 7.4 4.2 4.6 7.2 11.9 10.0 16.2 7.5 8.0 3.8 8.2 14.4 7.4 3.6 5.1 7.4 3.7 5.6 3.3 2.2 3.1 2.3 2.1 1.4 4.3 3.6 6.1 4.5 2.8 4.6 5.6 4.6 5.3 7.8 5.7 3.9 1.9 5.9 3.4 2.3 Windlass rig Chain pump do Air-pressnre sys- tem. Chain pump Pitcher pump Chain pump....... House pimip Chain pump Chain pimip and house pump. One-bucket rig Wheel and axle rig. Chain pump V/indlassrig Nonfailing. For _ assay see p. 136. 3 4 do Slope Plain Terrace..... Plain Slope Plam do Do. Do ' 5 6 9 H. W. Neelans.. Edw. C. Bacon.. Do. Fails. Nonfailing. Do 10 11 Do 12 Do 13 do Fails 15 Hill do Nonfailing. Do 16 17 Plain....... do Do 18 Wm. Oliver Nonfailing. Aban- doned. 19 Hill do Sweep rig 20 F. J. Pease No rig... Nonfailing. Aban- doned. 21 Plain Slope Plain Hill Terrace Slope . -do.... Chain pump do 22 23 do 24 No rig... Nonfailing. Aban- doned. Nonfailmg. Do. 25 House pump Chain pump ... -do. 26 27 Do 28 Plain ...do.... . do 29 R. E. Parson. House pump Chain pump Windlass rig Chain pump Windlass rig do Nonfailing. For assay see p. 136. Nonfailing. For anahsisseep.136. 30 M. W. Dunne. do 32 Terrace Plain do 33 Do. 34 Do. 35 do 36 do .do .,...do Do. 38 Chain pump do Do 39 do Do.