The Road to Quabbin
In 1795 a pipe system was created to supply Boston with water from Jamaica Pond in Roxbury. By 1848 each person in Boston used about 100 gallons of water every day. The pipes were extended 14.62 miles to Lake Cochituate to add to Boston’s water supply. In 1870 water from the Sudbury River was added to Lake Cochituate. Eight years later, the 17.4 mile long Sudbury aqueduct was completed. The Sudbury Reservoir was now connected to Lake Cochituate. The Framingham Reservoirs were added to the metropolitan area water supply in 1880. In 1893, the Massachusetts board of health reviewed the alternatives to the Swift River. After two years, the Wachusett reservoir construction was started. It took an additional five years for the construction to be completed. The board of health recommended taking water from the Ware River and creating a massive reservoir. This decision led to the creation of the Swift Water Act. In 1927 the Swift Water Act was passed. Finally, in 1932 the Metropolitan District water supply commission voted to call the new reservoir "Quabbin".