Westerly - State of Rhode Island: Division of Planning

The Westerly Comprehensive Plan5.5 WaterWesterly’s water system is owned by the town and operated by the Public Works UtilitiesDepartment. This system serves portions of Westerly and the Pawcatuck section of Stonington,Connecticut. A small portion of town (approximately 6 percent) depends on private wells. Most ofthe properties so served are residences remote from the town water system. A study titled WesterlyWater Division – Water Supply Management Plan, prepared by the Maguire Group in July 2007, describesexisting conditions and includes a long range program to improve the quality and quantity of water.Water studies are conducted on five-year cycles and results are submitted to both Rhode Island andConnecticut state agencies (Departments of Health) for evaluation. In addition to the informationbelow, refer to the Natural Resources element for a description of wellhead and aquifer protection.Water SourceWesterly’s drinking water is obtained from wells that tap into groundwater reservoirs. The water ispumped from eleven supply wells at seven pumping stations. Generators are provided at severalwells to assure a constant supply of water in the event of a power failure. Pumping stations eachhave their own chemical feed pits where potassium hydroxide (KOH) is added to the raw water toadjust the pH. Water is stored in six storage facilities before being distributed for use. Generally thequality of the water is good; however, in three separate incidents in 1994, 1998 and 2000,respectively, the water became contaminated with fecal coliform, prompting the state to mandatesome form of disinfection.The town has successfully completed a pilot program for a MIOX (“mixed oxidants”) disinfectionsystem and is transitioning to full implementation in fall of 2009. Westerly was the first town inRhode Island authorized to conduct a year-long, full system test on water supply using the MIOXtechnology.SupplyThe town has undertaken a comprehensive assessment of its groundwater reserves. The conclusionhas been that its existing White Rock sites, combined with its Bradford II and III sites and theCrandall well sites, provide sufficient capacity. However, to enhance the town’s reserves, a new wellis being developed (“Bradford IV”). This well, with a half million gallon per day capacity, waspermitted in 2007 and will be operational once the acquisition of adjacent land required to protectthe site is completed. The town has implemented a program for hydraulic modeling which is usedto ensure that expected results are occurring within the water supply system.The volume of water that the town pumps into the system varies widely during seasons of the yeardepending on the influx of seasonal residents and tourists and other summer requirements.According to a representative of the Water Division, the town pumps the following volumesexpressed in millions of gallons per day (mgd):• November to March 3 mgd• April to October 4-6 mgdThe town continues to actively acquire land for aquifer protection; the bulk of a recent $3 millionbond issue for open space acquisition was targeted for this purpose.peter j. smith & company, inc. 80