So the Globe has a big article about Greater Boston’s water supply that most of you probably haven’t read. Some pretty interesting facts in the article — which I’ll summarize below:

• Our water comes from the Quabbin Reservoir, which is located about 60 miles west of W. Newton (near Ware, MA). The Quabbin is Mass’ largest body of water and named after an American Indian Chief named Nani Quaben — which means ‘many waters.’
• The Quabbin was built between 1926-1939. 38 square miles of land were cleared: trees, topsoil, 36 miles of state highways, 16 miles of railroad tracks, 8 train stations and 7,500 dead bodies had to be relocated. ….Some townsfolk say they didn’t get all the bodies and late at night you can see…. only kidding. They got pretty much all of them.
• 4 towns were disincorporated during construction. From what I’ve read about disincorporation, it sucks. The government forces you to sell your land, home and all the stuff you can’t move — then floods it. If Newton ever has a vote for disincorporation, vote no!
• The Quabbin is fed by the Swift River and took 7 years to fill once construction was complete. The reservoir is 150 feet deep.
• While the Quabbin was slowly filling from 1939-1946, the reservoir was used by the Air Force as a precision bombing and gunnery range. This leads me to believe they didn’t remove ALL the dead bodies, had a bunch of zombies swimming around and needed to bomb them.
• The Quabbin is only accessible by foot. The surrounding area is inhabited by bald eagles, moose, deer, bears, bobcats & yettis.
• Water from the Quabbin is disinfected and treated several times before it arrives in Newton. Contaminants are removed, small amounts of chlorine & fluoride are added.
• Newton residents use an average of 54 gallons per person/day. Average annual water cost per household is $719.