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

Stratified drift. — The mp^ntle rock of the lower parts of Glaston- bury is stratified drift. The boundary between it and the till is in general about 200 feet above sea level but is higher in the valleys to the east. East of East Glastonburj^ there is a knoll of stratified drift which has an elevation of 520 feet. Stratified drift is not the j)roduct of direct glacial deposition, as is the till, but was laid down by water derived in large part from the melting of the ice. Many etream.s issued from the receding glacier and bore much debris, which the}^ dropped near the ice front, forming broad glacial-out- wash plains in the broad valleys and narrower plains and terraces in the smaller valleys. The stratified drift consists for the niost part of the constituents of the till and debris carried from the glacier. These materials have been sorted according to size, thoroughly washed, and finally laid down in separate beds and lenses. Inasmuch as the finer particles have been removed from the interstices between the larger ones, and the grains themselves worn from subangular to well-rounded shapes, the stratified drift is both higher in total porosity and of greater perviousness than the till. It absorbs water more quickly and in larger amounts and transmits it more readily. Wells dug in stratified drift procure water in the same way as wells in till but on a more generous scale. The supplies are in general more reliable, unless the well in stratified drift is so situated that the ground water may drain from it readily. Measurements were made of 42 wells dug in stratified drift in Glastonbury. Of these wells 30 were said never to fail and 6 to fail; the reliability of the other 6 was not ascertained. The following table summarizes the data collected concerning the depths of these 42 wells: Huminarv of icelU diift in stratified drift in Glastonbury. Maximum Minimum Average.. Total depth. Feet. 32.9 5.6 17.4 Depth to water. Feet. 23.7 1.0 10.5 Depth of water in well. Feet. 15.9 1.2 6.9 158 GEOU]:TD WATER IF NORWALK AND OTHER AREAS, COIsTN. It is said by the residents that on the knoll of stratified drift east of East Glastonbury it would be necessary to dig wells to a depth of 80 feet in order to reach the water level. This may be an excessive estimate, but it is entirely reasonable to suppose that the water lies at an unusually great depth at this point, as the topographic situa- tion is very disadvantageous for the retention of ground water. At present the people living on this knoll depend largely upon rain water collected from roofs and stored in cisterns, QUALITY OF GROUWD WATER. ' The following table gives the results of two analyses and four assays of samples of ground water collected in the town of Glaston- bury. The waters are all low in mineralization except Nos. 15 and 2, which are moderately mineralized. No. 15 is a soft water, No. 2 is comparatively hard, and the rest are very soft. All are suitable for domestic use, so far as this may be determ_ined by their mineral (.'ontent. AH are good for boiler use except No. 2, which is rated as fair because the scale-forming ingredients are a little high. All are sodium-carbonate waters except No. 2, which is calcium-carbonate in type. Chemical composition and classification of ground waters in Olastonbwry.^ [Parts per million. Collected Dec. 2, 1916; analyzed by Alfred A. Chambers and C. H. Kidwell. Numbers of analyses and assays correspond to those used on PI. VI.j Analyses. 6 15 Assays.- 59 Silica (SiOo).. Iron (Fe) Calcium (Ca) '. Magnesium (Mg) Sodium and potassium (Na-t- K) d Carbonate radicle (COj) Bicarbonate radicle (HCOb) Sulphate radicle (SO4) Chloride radicle (CI) Nitrate radicle (NOs) Total dissolved solids at 180° C. . . Total hardness as CaCOs Scale-forming constituents (^ Poaming constituents d Chemical character Probability of corrosion/ Quality for boiler use Quality for domestic use .28 19 3.8 28 .0 71 33 22 1.1 174 <?63 84 76 Na-COs (?) Good. Good. 18 .20 8.7 2.3 11 .0 37 13 .5.8 2.9 78 d31 48 30 Na-COs (?) Good. Good. 0.81 Trace. .0 64 38 17 (2 160 128 150 (e) Ca-COs (?) Fair. Good. Trace. 0.18 11 .0 22 2.0 5.1 19 .0 43 3.0 20 d55 6.0 30 30 Na-COs N Good. Good. dm 28 55 50 Na-COs N Good. Good. 13 .0 31 9.0 5.6 'i74 16 30 Na-COs N Good. Good. a For location and other descriptive information see pp. 159-161. f> For methods used in analyses 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. e Less than 10 parts per million. /Based on computed quantity; (?) = corrosion uncertain, N=noncorrosive. GLASTONBURY. 159 PUBLIC WATEU SUPPLIES. The villages of Glastonbury and Naubuc are supplied with water by the waterworks of the fire district of East Ilaitford, which have been described by Ellis.^ The two reservoirs of this system, from which water is distributed b}^ gravity, are on brooks in the hills of the northern part of Glastonbury and have capacities of 1,700,000 and 1,500,000 gallons, respectively. Since 1905 the residents of South Glastonbury have had water from the South Glastonbury Water Co. There are two reservoirs on Ashle}' Brook, the upper of which has a capacity of 4,000,000 gallons and the lower of 500,000 gallons. Water is distributed by gravity under a pressure of 60 to 100 pounds to the square inch through 1 miles of main pipe to 95 service connections,- RECORDS OF WELLS AND SPRINGS. The only spring visited in Glastonbury (No. 31, PI. VI) is in a swale and is improved with a large tile. Its water was found to have a temx)erature of 59° F. Wells (lug in till in Glastonbury. No. on PI. VI Owner. Topo- graphic situation. ^ ^ o 5 rt cs-S Xi C3 6^-: 8° o o^ "a si ft £-5 OJ K t^ O Q Feet. Feet. Feet. Feet. 310 13.8 4.3 9.5 375 9.0 5.3 3.7 380 18.3 11.6 6.7 530 11.0 6.6 4.4 445 12.0 7.4 4.6 425 23.0 16.5 6.5 480 13.3 8.2 5.1 550 14. 5 8.1 6.4 460 17.3 11.3 6.0 465 26.9 23. 7 3.2 520 19.5 10.3 0 2 550 19.8 13.4 6.4 650 6.1 1.0 5.1 435 13. 3 8.6 4.7 385 14.9 10.0 4.9 455 30.3 27.0 3.3 410 19.0 13.3 5.7 425 14.7 5.4 9.3 445 25.7 10.1 15.6 630 15.8 9.4 6.4 675 5.6 1.9 3.7 580 14.1 5.7 8.4 210 15.0 13.8 1.2 260 17.4 10.0 7.4 350 16.3 11.6 4.7 375 32.9 20.5 12.4 Rig. Remarks. Herbert E. Mitchel M. K. Tryon . Jerome P. Weir, jr. Peter Zimmerman. Slope.-.. do.. do.. Plateau . Slope . . . do.. do.. do.. do.. Plain . . . Slope . . . do.. do.. do.. Plain . . . Slope . . . John Kelly. -do. -do. -do. -do. -do. -do. -do. Plain . . Slope-. ....do. Windlass rig No rig Two-bucket rig-. Chain pump Windlass rig do do Two-l)ucket rig . Windlass rig do....; Chain pump do Sweep rig Windlass rig No rig Windlass and counterbalance rig. Two-bucket rig. - No rig Windlass rig Sweep rig No rig Windlass rig do ....do House pump- Windlass rig. Fails. Do. Nonfailing. Do. Fails. Do. Nonfailing. Do. Failsjabandoned. NonlailLng. Do. Fails. Nonfailing. Do. Do. Do. Fails. Fails. Rock bot- tom. For assay see p. 158. Nonfailing. Do. 1 Gregory, H. E., and Ellis, A. J., Ground water in the Hartford, Stamford, Salisbury, Willimantic, and Saybix>ok areas. Conn. : U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 374, p. 71, 1916. = Connecticut Public Utilities Comm. Rept., 1917. ' 160 GKOUND WATEE IN NOR WALK AND OTHER AREAS, CONN. Wells dug in till in Glaslonbunj^Continued. No. on 1. VI. Owner Eugene Loveland. B. Zola . Topo- graphic situation. Slope. . ...fdo. do. do. do. do. do.. do.. Hill Terrace . Plain... Plateau . Hilltop . do.. Slope . . . do.. <u o "r^ OS'S ,4 ft c ^ :o o3 'p^ p, O " ^^ a p Feet. Feet. Feet. Feet. 410 19.0 8.5 1U.5 470 19.1 13.9 5.2 475 9.7 7.2 2.6 400 11.5 6.7 4.8 420 24.3 15.3 9.0 410 19.0 11.7 7.3 490 19.8 8.4 11.4 470 18.9 14.3 4.6 725 17.7 13.1 4.6 680 18.5 15. 5 3.0 710 9.2 7.8 1.4 730 18.3 7.5 10.8 8S5 15.4 10.9 4.5 885 11.0 6,2 4.8 910 21.9 1.5.9 6.0 890 26.4 13.8 12.6 Ris Two-bucket rig. do House pump... Windlas.s rig . . . do Two-bucket rig. Windlass rig . T . Chain pump... Windlass rig . . . do No rig Windlass rig . . . do.. Two-bucket rig- Windlass rig . 1 . do...;.... Remarks. Pails. NonfailLng. Fails. Nonlailing. Do. Fails. Do. Do. Do. Do. Yy^ells dug in stratified drift in Glastonbury. No. on PI. VI. Owner. Topo- graphic situation. > o ft 0) XS o a; p si & (V a t: . O |5 ft a> P Feet. Feel. Feet. Fed. 25 20.5 16.6 3.9 35 10.4 7.3 3.1 25 12.0 7.7 4.3 30 13.3 10.4 2.9 35 10.5 5.8 4.7 SO 16.3 12.8 3.6 30 10.8 8.1 2.7 35 12.0 6.5 5.5 60 12.6 10.8 1.8 50 18.3 14.5 3.8 75 19.5 17.3 2.2 45 13.7 10.8 2.9 55 14.5 8.0 6.5 45 11.5 8.4 3.1 85 40.3 34.7 5.6 60 23.9 18.6 5.3 15 23.4 19.7 3.7 30 42.4 39.9 2.6 20 34.6 31.7 2.9 25 40.4 38.1 2.3 175 18.9 12.2 6.7 195 34.7 29.3 5.4 170 32.8 30.3 2.5 170 16.0 10.8 5.2 ISO 16.5 12.2 4.3 250 16.2 11.3 4.9 305 40.0 3S. 2 1.8 305 27.7 20.5 7.2 315 18.2 14.8 3.4 340 19.3 16.2 3.1 415 33.8 28.4 5.4 350 14.9 11.1 3.8 Rig. Remarks. Mr. Neusoheleir. Plain.. do. do.. do.. do.. Slope... Plain . . . do.. Terrace. Plain . . do. do. 1 Slope. I Plain. WiUiam Staslinger Slope. Terrace. Plain... do.. do.. Louis C. Tryon. . . Terrace. G. A. Blinn Slope... Mrs. L. Bacon David R. Taylor. George Kingston. ao.. Plain... do.. do.. Terrace. do.; Slope... Plain... Terrace. do.. Plain... Chain pnmp ....do do Two-bucket rig . Chain pump ....do do Windlass rig No rig do Windlass rig Chain pump No rig Chain pump Windlass rig do Two-bucket rig. . Windlass rig do do do do Two-bucket rig.. Chain pump Windlass rig Chain pnmp Windlass rig Pitcher pump, horse pump, and windlass rig. Deep- well pump,