THE WILTON WATER COMPANY
An Historical Sketch
By Willard S. Bass
Read at a meeting of the Maine Water Utilities Association
At Wilton, August 8, 1951
The forerunner of the Wilton Water Company was a very small system built in 1893 or 1894 to furnish fire protection to the property of G. H. Bass & Co. and N. W. Sewall. The Bass factory was then situated where the office of the Wilton Water Company is now located and the Sewall property stood directly opposite. The system consisted of a single hydrant which, to the best of my recollection, still stands at its original location. The hydrant was supplied by a six inch pipe leading from a reservoir holding something like 2500 gallons located on the property of G. H. Bass about 75 feet above the hydrant. The reservoir was supplied partly by springs supplemented by pumping water from Wilson Stream.
In 1895 a charter was granted to the Wilton Water Company, and G. H. Bass, N. W. Sewall, and others, were named as the incorporators. The company was given the right to take water from any source in Wilton except Wilson Pond, and to supply the inhabitants of Wilton with water for fire protection and for domestic and municipal purposes.
By 1903 the Wilton Woolen Company had built a new mill, the first at its present location, and G. H. Bass & Co. had plans for building a portion of its present factory. Both needed fire protection. The Wilton Water Company undertook to supply this need and to furnish water to domestic users as well. Additional capital was obtained by the sale of stock.
A contract was placed with Charles N. Taylor, engineer and contractor of Wellesley, Massachusetts, for the construction of a line of six inch case iron pipe from Varnum or North Pond to Wilton Village. The work was started on September 30th, 1903. It was completed in December. Many people in Wilton had been skeptical about water ever running from North Pond to Wilton, and when water was first turned on it appeared that the skeptics were right. No water ran. There followed several days of feverish activity locating high spots and putting in air valves. Finally the last air pocket was eliminated, and on Christmas Day, 1903, North Pond water began running in Wilton Village.
In 1904 the water distribution system was laid in Wilton Village, and during that year the first income from the sale of water was received.
In 1905 the Company made a contract with the Town of Wilton for fire protection. The Company agreed to install and maintain 50 hydrants, and the Town agreed to pay $20 per year per hydrant, and to assume all taxes assessed against the Company. In the same year, and as one condition of the contract, the Company extended its line to East Wilton and built a reservoir at that village.
In 1915 the Company found it desirable to increase its supply, and an eight inch main was laid for about one mile from Varnum Pond parallel to the original line.
In 1920 the supply again was inadequate and the Company continued the eight inch line to Wilton Village by laying approximately two and a half miles of eight inch stave pipe.
In 1934 the Company made provision for further increase in the consumption by the installation of a booster pump. The pump is located on the transmission lines just before they reach Weld Street, which is near the residence of Oscar Chandler. The installation was made on the advice of Harry U. Fuller, then Superintendent of the Portland Water District. It increased the rate of flow by approximately 50%.
By 1940 the wood pipe line was beginning to give trouble, especially in lower places where the ground was wet and the pressure high. Accordingly the Company replaced 4500 feet of the wood pipe immediately above the pump house with eight inch transite pipe.
In 1944, 1388 feet of the wood pipe extending from the pump house to the corner of Weld and High Streets was replaced with cast iron pipe of the same size. There was then remaining one section of the wood stave pipe, approximately 7500 feet in length. Last summer, 1950, this was replaced by ten inch transite pipe.
You may note from the above that the Company has used transite pipe in its transmission lines, but in its distribution mains it has stuck to cast iron.
In the spring of the present year a chlorinator was installed, using a machine made by Proportioneers for hydrochloride solution.
The Company is proud of its source of water supply. Varnum Pond possessed a great deal of natural beauty. Perhaps the water is no better because the pond is surrounded by wooded hills, but it is certainly pleasanter to look at. Its shores are mostly wooded, with some farm land and a few cottages. The bottom is generally rocky and the water clear. The pond is located about three and a half miles from Wilton Village, has a drainage area of about four square miles, and a water surface of 338 acres, according to the maps of the U.S. Geological Survey. Its elevation is almost precisely 200 feet above the street at the office of the Water Company in Wilton Village.
Water analyses, as reported by the Division of Sanitary Engineering, State Department of Health and Welfare, show that the water is free from turbidity, low in color, fairly low in hardness and of excellent quality with respect to bacterial content.
Varnum Pond also serves as a water supply for the Farmington Water District. There may be some question as to whether the supply is sufficient for the present and future needs of both towns. The shortest answer to this question is to call attention to the quantity of water running down Varnum Stream, which is the outlet of Varnum Pond. The volume is clearly several times larger than the combined use of both towns. If you want some figures, I might say that the rainfall on four square miles figured at 42 inches per year gives an average daily run-off of over four million gallons.At the present time the Wilton Water Company uses about 360,000 gallons per day and the Farmington Water District about the same. The water intake of the pond, therefore, appears to be at least five times the present requirements of Wilton and Farmington.
At a much earlier date there was a mill situated at the outlet of Varnum Pond. It was known as the Woodward Mill, and I suppose it was a saw mill. Some of the foundations still remain and are an interesting study. The important thing for us is the fact that the control gate at the outlet permits drawing the water to a level of five feet below the top of the dam. These water rights are now owned by the Wilton Water Company. Accordingly there is no one having any rights to draw water from Varnum Pond except the Wilton Water Company and the Farmington Water District.
The main items of the Company's property now consist of:
An intake and screen chamber at North Pond. When the first eight inch pipe was laid from North Pond in 1915 a screen chamber was built about 200 feet out in the pond. This consisted of a steel cylinder eight feet in diameter and15 feet high, cement lined, containing two sets of removable screens. This chamber became tilted. The reason for this is not entirely clear. It may have been due to the weight of the pipe on the outlet side of the chamber. It is possible that the bottom of the pond was softer on this side. It is also possible that the pressure of ice may have pushed it over. In 1941 this chamber was reinforced by the construction of a log crib-work filled with rocks. This served to keep the screen chamber in a usable condition for six years, but in 1947 the situation became unsafe, and the Company built a concrete chamber on the shore.
Two lines of transmission main from North Pond to the pump house, consisting of one six inch line and one line of approximately a mile of eight inch case iron pipe, nearly a mile of eight inch transite pipe, and a mile and a half of ten inch transite pipe.
A booster pump and chlorinating equipment installed in the pump house.
Distribution system supplemented by a reservoir for Wilton Village containing about 500,000 gallons, and another at East Wilton containing about 300,000 gallons. The total distribution system now contains approximately 14 miles of pipe.
Fire protection is furnished by 78 hydrants.
The construction of the above items brought financial problems. The total cost of the original plant as built in1903, 1904, and 1905, was $68,000. This was paid for by the sale of capital stock totaling $35,000. This was widely distributed among the citizens of Wilton. There were 37 subscriptions, of whom only twelve took twenty shares, parvalue $25., or more. Bonds were sold to the Franklin County Savings Bank in the amount of $33,000.
The transmission main laid in 1915 cost $7,638. Additional stock to the amount of $7,000 was sold to pay for this construction. I suspect that this money came with more difficulty than the first; anyway, it required 32 subscriptions to raise the $7,000. Ten of those were for 1share, or $25., each. Only five were for twenty shares or more.
The wood pipe line laid in 1920 cost $27,183. The Company endeavored to sell stock to cover this cost, but the sale proved more difficult than in 1915. The Company could find only 27 purchasers; only four of these purchased twenty shares or more, and the total amount sold was $12,950. This amount was reduced by the Company's refunding of $2000. worth of stock from a share holder who wanted to dispose of his holdings. The net increase in the outstanding stock of the Company was therefore $10,950. The remaining funds necessary for this extension, $13,000., was secured by notes. The original issue of bonds, $33,000, and these notes were gradually retired during the 1920's, and the indebtedness of the Company was completely liquidated in 1931.
An additional $50 worth of stock was sold in 1925, making the total paid in capital $53,000. It has remained at this figure ever since.
After the indebtedness of the Company was retired in1931, the Company sought to built up some cash reserves, having in mind the necessity of replacing the wood stavepipe. In this it was reasonably successful.
The cost of the 1944 replacement was something over $5,000, and the 7500 feet of transite pipe laid last summer cost the Company slightly over $25,000. We may note in passing that the cost of the ten inch transite pipe laid last summer was $3.35 per foot. This breaks down into $2.47 per foot for the pipe and 88 cents per foot for the labor. This latter figure includes the cost of hauling the pipe from the station, of bushing out the right of way, excavating, laying pipe, and back filling. The Company considers this a very reasonable figure and a distinct credit to its superintendent who handled the job.
Altogether, since 1941 the Company has made capital expenditures to the total of $63,766. It has been able to provide this amount from current income and reserves without the necessity of finding new capital.
The Company began its operations in 1904 with the rate of $8.00 for the first faucet. For a house having a faucet in the kitchen sink and a full bath room the rate was $16.00.There were no meters used and no water rates. In 1921 these rates were increased. They were reduced in 1933 and again in1941. The figures at the latter time were $7.00 for the first faucet and $16.00 for kitchen and full bath room. In April of the present year the rates were revised upward and the present rate is $8.00 for the first faucet and $19.00 for kitchen and full bath rooms. All industrial services are now on meter rates, the figures being 30 cents per hundred cubic feet for the first 5,000, 20 cents per hundred for the next10,000, and 10 cents per hundred cubic feet for all over15,000. Fire protection for the town, which in 1904 was charged at $20 per hydrant, is now $40, the town in both cases assuming the taxes. Parenthetically we may remark that these rates compare favorably with those of other privately owned water companies in the State. During the years the Company has had a normal amount of trouble with breakage, freeze-ups and re-location due to road building. The latest incident and probably the most interesting one concerned pipe cleaning.
In 1949 a test by insurance companies showed an inadequate supply of water in East Wilton, and we had the pipe from the reservoir to East Wilton cleaned by the National Water Pipe Cleaning Co. The results were so successful in increasing the flow of water that in 1950 we had the same company clean our transmission lines from Varnum Pond to the pump house. The six inch pipe was cleaned first. The work was done in four sections of about 4500 feet each, and this work was accomplished with no serious difficulty. We then attempted to clean the eight inch line. This is approximately 5300 feet in length, and the man representing the pipe cleaning company attempted to do it in one single run. The result was that the rabbit stopped in three different places. In [this] case pressure was applied by portable fire pump, and three times the pipe gave way before the rabbit started. The rabbit had to be located, the pipe dug up, cleaned out, and the rabbit started again. As our six inch pipe was inadequate to supply the needs of our customers, time was extremely important in getting the eight inch pipe in operation.
During this time our superintendent worked 80 hours in five days.
When the work was completed we found that the flow in the eight inch pipe was increased about 18%, that is, from about 10,150 gallons per hour to 12,000 gallons per hour, and the flow in the six inch pipe increased from approximately 2845 gallons to 3500 gallons per hour, or 26%. We felt that the undertaking was well worth while.
The Company has now been in operation for nearly fifty years. Much of its property bears the imprint of J. Everett Hiscock, who was the superintendent for forty years. He was a careful, thorough, ingenious man, conservative in his views, who felt a public utility should be conducted economically and for the benefit of the customers. He continued in active service of the Company until he was eighty-eight years old. Some of his devices still remain in active duty; some of them have been replaced by more modern or conventional equipment. One thing that has not been replaced is his idea that the first duty of a water company is to give its customers good water in quantity sufficient for their needs, and then strive to do it at a reasonable cost to the customers and at a reasonable profit to itself.
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