Swift River (Ware River)
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| Swift River | |
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| Origin | Wendell, Massachusetts |
| Mouth | Three Rivers, Massachusetts |
| Length | 49 miles (78.8 km) |
| Source elevation | 1,164 ft (354.8 m) |
| Mouth elevation | 290 ft (88.4 m) |
| Avg. discharge | 180 ft³/sec (5.1 m³/sec) |
| Basin area | ≈100 mi² (259 km²) |
The Swift River is a river in Massachusetts comprised of three branches, all of which are impounded by the two dams on the Quabbin Reservoir, Winsor Dam and Goodnough Dike, to create one of the largest artificial reservoirs in the world. This river is part of the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA) drinking water system serving the greater Boston area.
- The west branch heads at the outlet of a small, unnamed impoundment east of Cooleyville Road in the Wendell State Forest, Wendell to mouth at the Quabbin Reservoir.
- The middle branch heads just north of Wendell and New Salem State Forests (South of the Swift River School) in Wendell to mouth at Quabbin Reservoir in New Salem.
- The east branch heads at the confluence of Shattuck and Popple Camp Brooks in Phillipston to mouth at Pottapaug Pond in Petersham before entering the Quabbin basin.
The Swift River exits the Winsor Dam from both a spillway and a power station. It continues through portions of West Ware, Belchertown, Bondsville, and Three Rivers before its confluence with the Chicopee River, in Palmer.
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[edit] Information
The Swift River is one of the longest rivers in Massachusetts that is contained entirely within the state, the first being the Ware River. Some documents claim that the Ware River is a tributary to the Swift River. This may not be correct because the diversion of the Ware River is artificial. See the article, Ware River Diversion. The Swift River meets the Ware River in Three Rivers, Massachusetts, remaining the Swift River, before its confluence with the Quaboag River, becoming the Chicopee River. The confluence of all four rivers all occur within a mile of each other in Three Rivers, Massachusetts. The town of Three Rivers is named for the confluence of the Quaboag, Swift and Ware Rivers. They become the Chicopee River. The Swift River is part of the Chicopee River Watershed.
[edit] History of the Swift River valley
Nipmuc Indians lived in and hunted throughout the Swift River valley before European settlers began clearing the land and farming in the early 1700's. Disease and warfare drove the Indians from the valley.
The Swift River valley towns were lively and productive by the later part of the 19th century. A branch of the Boston and Albany Railroad, the Central Massachusetts Railroad, carried passengers between Athol and Springfield. Known as the "Rabbit Line" because of the number of stops, or short hops it made, the train took three and a half hours to complete the fifty-mile (80.5 km) trip. Inns and taverns catered to travelers, while industries such as the Swift River Box Company provided work for local residents. Factories in Dana made palm-leaf hats, Shaker bonnets, and soapstone foot-warmers. Greenwich and Dana were popular with summer visitors, and most of the residents of Prescott were farmers.
Westward expansion and industrialization caused the decline of many rural New England towns, and those in the Swift River Valley did not escape those economic hardships. Dana, Enfield, Prescott, and Greenwich received a final blow when rumors implying the towns would be flooded began to circulate. Property values decreased. The Great Depression added its financial strain to the problems facing these small communities.
Although the decision to flood the towns met with some local resistance, the valley people had no options. Slowly the valley disappeared beneath the waters of the Swift River, becoming at that time the world’s largest artificial reservoir. The twenty-five-hundred residents left their homes, with possessions and memories, and started over in other towns. Their empty houses were razed or moved and factories were demolished. Tracts of forestland were clear-cut and burned. The roads were relocated. Seventy-five-hundred bodies buried in the towns' thirty-four cemeteries were removed. Most were interred at Quabbin Park Cemetery in Ware. The final chapter of the lives of these towns was completed on April 28, 1938, the date of their official demise.
[edit] MWRA water system overview
The MWRA and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (MDCR) own and operate the collection, treatment, distribution, and storage facilities that supply drinking water to some forty municipalities in the metropolitan Boston area. This water system design was based upon the purchase and subsequent protection of an entire watershed. This design assures that the water remains as pristine as possible. However, modern regulations require that all supplies of drinking water be chemically treated regardless of the source[1]. Additions to the MWRA water system throughout its history have resulted in redundancies that allow major sections of the water system to be shut down for repair or maintenance.
[edit] Water flow
Water flows from the MWRA's main storage facility, the Quabbin Reservoir in central Massachusetts, through the Quabbin Aqueduct to the Wachusett Reservoir in and around Boylston and Clinton [2]. Tributary rivers and streams comprising the Wachusett watershed, a 108 square mile (280 square kilometer) drainage basin, also feed the Wachusett Reservoir. At the eastern end of the Wachusett Reservoir, water enters the Cosgrove Tunnel at the Cosgrove Intake. The Cosgrove Tunnel feeds both the MetroWest Water Supply Tunnel (MWWST) and the Hultman Aqueduct. The MWWST starts from the Carroll Water Treatment Plant in Marlborough. The Hultman branches off at Framingham in two directions. The smaller branch, the Weston Aqueduct, empties into the Weston Reservoir in Weston. The main branch continues to the Norumbega Reservoir, also located in Weston[2].
[edit] Redundancy
Water can be treated with chlorine as it leaves the Wachusett Reservoir in an emergency, and again as it leaves the Norumbega Reservoir. This is to provide for a backup to the new water treatment facility, the John J. Carroll Water Treatment Plant, which started operation on July 27, 2005[3]. This plant is of modular design and provides ozonation for primary disinfection, chloramination for residual disinfection, fluoridation, and pH control.
[edit] John J. Carroll water treatment plant
Located at the town lines of Marlborough, Northborough, and Southborough, Massachusetts, this facility replaces the one used previously only for pH control[4]. It comprises four ozone generators with diffusers and five concrete contact chambers with a volume of 11.3 million gallons (42.7 million liters). The plant has a capacity of 275 million gallons (1.04 billion liters) per day, on an average day or 405 million gallons (1.53 billion liters) per day, at peak level. It cost US$340 million[3].
[edit] Electrical generation
The system includes three hydropower stations, with a total capacity of 8 MW[5]. Water released to the Swift River flows through the turbines at Winsor Station below the Winsor Dam. Water transferred from Quabbin to Wachusett can pass either through the turbines at Oakdale or through bypass pipes when flow requirements exceed turbine ratings. Water released from Wachusett into the Cosgrove Tunnel passes through the Cosgrove turbines[2][3].
MWRA power generation
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The Quabbin Aqueduct connects the two reservoirs, and relies upon gravity to accommodate the three separate operational needs. First, diversion of water from the Ware River into the Quabbin Reservoir uses this aqueduct. Second, water transfer from the Quabbin Reservoir to the Wachusett Reservoir, through a hydropower station or a bypass pipe, uses it as well. The bypass valves are non-regulating valves, and when opened, only the head in the Quabbin Reservoir and the physical characteristics of the aqueduct govern the flow. Because the turbines are flow limited, the bypass mechanism permits transfer rates nearly twice as high as are possible through the turbines. Operationally, the single aqueduct fulfills three purposes, but only one operational mode is possible at a given time [6].
[edit] MWRA references
- ^ Safe Drinking Water Act. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
- ^ a b c MWRA water system. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
- ^ a b c Water system history. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
- ^ John J. Carroll water treatment plant. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
- ^ Electrical power generating plants. Retrieved on 2006-12-07.
- ^ Water system configuration. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
[edit] References
- Headwaters information
- Swift River valley history
- Information about the three rivers at the town of Three Rivers
