FOCUS ON WAT E R
ing the water was hardly new; the Greeks and Romans practiced certain filtering techniques such as settling, running it through sand, and storing it in copper pots even though they knew nothing of the scientific basis for doing so. Not until 1906 did Providence install its first slow sand filter water purification system. Once completed, the filters treated water drawn from the river, after which it was pumped to the Sockanosset open distribution reservoir, located in what is now the Glen Hope High School in Providence. The Hope Reservoir had a capacity of 76 million gallons and pumped water to the city’s system and to yet another storage facility, the Fruit Hill Reservoir in North Providence, situated on the site occupied today by Our Lady of Fatima Hospital. One key function of the Fruit Hill Reservoir was to furnish water for the
special fire service that protected the business district and the congested Woods Development of Cranston. This reservoir held 55 million gallons and moved water by gravity to a second facility that stood on the ground now occupied by the manufacturing district where fire was always a threat. Although owned by the city of Providence, the system supplied water to North Providence, Cranston, Warwick, and Johnston as well. Impressive as this distribution system seemed at the time, the growth of Providence and surrounding communities strained it by 1910. Increased demand raised concerns that the flow of the Pettaconsett River This aerial view shows the Providence Water Supply Board’s Philip J. Holton Water Purification Plant with the Scituate Reservoir beyond.
41˚ N fall 2015
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