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Water Supply Committee

Committees: Water Supply Committee

Water Supply Committee

2010 Annual Report

The Water Supply Committee (WSC) is charged with maintaining a Water Supply Policy for the Town of Hingham, and monitoring adherence to this policy in the Town of Hingham. The WSC works with Aquarion Water Company (Aquarion), the public water supplier for the Hingham, Hull and north Cohasset Water District, to ensure that we have sufficient water to satisfy the Town's current and future household and commercial development needs.

The year 2010 was a strange one. There was no shortage of water (as of the end of October, precipitation for the previous 12 months was 110% of normal) but the town was under an outdoor watering ban for most of the summer. The problem was that while rainfall on average was adequate, the town suffered several hot and dry periods that stressed the water system. Many home irrigation systems have rain sensors or moisture sensors to prevent unnecessary watering. But when there is no rain and the turf is dry, virtually all the sprinkler systems will turn on at the same time. The result is the system cannot maintain needed water pressure for homes and hydrants.

The Committee has discussed another option to a watering ban for 2011: restricting sprinkler systems to twice a week odd-even watering for the whole season beginning in about April. In this region, twice a week watering is more than adequate to maintain a lawn, and that system would make unnecessary any restriction on hand-held garden hoses. It would also solve the water pressure problem. We will continue discussing and refining this option in the hope of avoiding more stringent restrictions in the summer.

Several years ago, the Committee supported a water company proposal to increase water supply for this district. The Board of Selectman opposed to plan and it was not implemented. There are no current plans to consider applying to the state for an increase in water supply. To obtain more water (called a "permitted amount") the State requires public water suppliers to show that there is a documented need for an additional supply and that existing water supplies are being used efficiently.

The State now limits Aquarion's maximum water withdrawal to the average level of consumption from 1981-1985, some 25-years ago. This limit is called our "registered amount". Even though the district has grown over the past 25-years, water usage has become more efficient so our consumption has rarely exceeded the original registered amount.

Aquarion has recently upgraded and replaced a number of Aquarion's older wells restoring their original level of withdrawal efficiency allowed at the time of registration. Part of the upgrade involved swapping the highly efficient and better quality Free St. well #4, which had been designated an emergency back up well, with the poorer quality Free St. well #2. So currently, well #2 serves as an emergency back up in case, for example, a production well pump was to break and require replacing. This project did not increase the average amount of water Aquarion can pump, but increased its ability to meet peak demand.