Documentary History of American Water-works

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

The first permanent European settlement in Massachusetts was at Plymouth, where the Mayflower arrived with Pilgrims in 1620.  Maine was a part of Massachusetts until it became a separate state in 1820, and aqueduct companies chartered under Massachusetts law are included in Maine page.

References
1799 An Act Allowing Proprietors of Aqueducts to Manage the Same.  February, 1799.  Allowed any number of individuals to form an Aqueduct Company by applying to a local Justice of the Peace.  The value of property owned by a company formed under this act could not exceed $30,000.  Prior to this, Aqueduct Companies could only be formed by an act of the General Court.

1870 An act to authorize cities and towns to purchase water-rights.  March 19, 1870.

1873 An act to dissolve certain corporations, June 2, 1873.

1876 "Water Supply," from Seventh Annual report of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts. January, 1876.  Includes data on aqueducts serving 46 communities in the Commonwealth. 

1889 Examinations by the State Board of Health of the Water Supplies and Inland Waters of Massachusetts: 1887-1890, Part 1

1907 An act to prevent waste of water in cities and towns supplied from the sources or works of the Metropolitan Water District.  June 15, 1907.  Required installation of water meters.

1915 “Water Storage in Massachusetts,” Municipal Journal 38(13):439-440 (April 1, 1915)

1917 State Sanitation: A Review of the Work of the Massachusetts State Board of Health, Volume 1, by George Chandler Whipple | Volume 2 |

1924 "Acts and Resolves Relating to Water Supply," Journal of the New England Water Works Association 28(4):364-439 (December, 1924)

2009 "Private sector involvement in public water distribution: assessing local water systems in Massachusetts," by Corey Denenberg Dehner,  Doctoral dissertation in Law, Policy and Society, Northastern University, July 2009.

2016 Department of Public Utilities History, Prepared by Paul E. Osborne, Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, March 2016

2016 Water Franchise Areas in Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Prepared by Paul E. Osborne, Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, March 2016

© 2017 Morris A. Pierce