The Wachusett Aqueduct is a secondary aqueduct that carries water from the

Wachusett Reservoir The Wachusett Reservoir is the second largest body of water in the state of Massachusetts. It is located in central Massachusetts, northeast of Worcester. It is part of the water supply system for metropolitan Boston maintained by the Massachuset ...

to the John J. Carroll Water Treatment Plant at Walnut Hill in Marlborough, Massachusetts. It is part of the

public water supply In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichke ...

system for the communities of

Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern a ...

that are served by the

Massachusetts Water Resources Authority The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) is a public authority in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that provides wholesale drinking water and sewage services to certain municipalities and industrial users in the state, primarily in th ...

(MWRA), which manages the aqueduct. The aqueduct serves as a standby backup to the

Cosgrove Tunnel The Cosgrove Aqueduct, also called the Cosgrove Tunnel, forms part of the water supply system for the communities of the Greater Boston area in eastern Massachusetts that are served by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. It is a man-made t ...

Physical characteristics

The Wachusett Aqueduct extends from the

in Clinton, through

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and Northborough, to the John J. Carroll Water Treatment Plant at Walnut Hill in Marlborough, Massachusetts. This long water system consists of 2 miles (3 km) of hard rock tunnel and 7 miles (11 km) of high horseshoe-shaped underground aqueduct constructed of non-reinforced concrete with a brick-lined invert. It is not constructed entirely underground and there are several elevated sections. The final portion of the aqueduct, taken out of service in 2005 with the opening of the treatment plant, is an open channel running from near the treatment facility to

Sudbury Reservoir The Sudbury Reservoir (2.02 square miles) is an emergency backup Boston metropolitan water reservoir in Massachusetts, located predominantly in Southborough and Marlborough, with small sections in Westborough and Framingham. It was created when ...

Modern use

Until the 1960s, the Wachusett Aqueduct was the main conduit used to deliver water from the Wachusett Reservoir. At that time, it carried of water each day (13 m³/s). The

replaced it in 1965 as the primary water transmission aqueduct. Because of the construction of the Walnut Hill Water Treatment Plant in

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

, the Cosgrove Tunnel was shut down in 2003 in order to make the large piping connection between the new treatment plant and the MWRA's new MetroWest Water Supply Tunnel. The MetroWest Tunnel extends east 18.6 miles (29.9 km) from Walnut Hill to

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * ...

. During that shutdown, the Wachusett Aqueduct was the primary method of transmission of about of water per day. The section of the Wachusett Aqueduct between the Wachusett Reservoir and the treatment plant remains a standby backup transmission path in the event the Cosgrove Tunnel is unavailable, while the open channel between the treatment plant and the Sudbury Reservoir remains an emergency backup transmission path in the event of a major problem with the treatment plant or the primary transmission pathways between the treatment plant and the water system. The aqueduct's route and supporting structures were added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1990. File:Metropolitan Water District map (Boston, MA, 1910).jpg, Wachusett Aqueduct in context File:SouthboroughMA WachusettAqueductLowerDam.jpg, The lower dam across the open portion of the aqueduct in Southborough File:SouthboroughMA WachusettAqueductChestnutHillArch.jpg, A bridge (now only carrying foot traffic) over the open portion of the aqueduct

References

External links

Online Historic Water System Photos and Plans
at mass.gov {{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Aqueducts in Massachusetts Aqueducts in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Transportation buildings and structures in Worcester County, Massachusetts Historic districts in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Historic districts in Worcester County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Worcester County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Aqueducts on the National Register of Historic Places Transportation buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Marlborough, Massachusetts

Physical characteristics

Modern use

References

Further reading

External links