Infrastructure in Boston

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Below is information on the utility infrastructure in the city of Boston, Massachusetts.

Contents

Electricity

Eversource Energy is the exclusive electricity distributor to the city, though due to deregulation, customers have a choice of electric generation companies. Natural gas is distributed by National Grid plc (originally KeySpan, the successor company to Boston Gas); only commercial and industrial customers may choose an alternate natural gas supplier. [1]

Steam heating

Municipal steam services are provided by Veolia Energy North America and its subsidiary Trigen Energy Corporation; [2] [3] which comprise the original assets of the defunct Boston Heating Company. [4] [5]

Telecommunications

Verizon, successor to New England Telephone, NYNEX, Bell Atlantic, and earlier, the Bell System, is the primary wired telephone service provider for the area. Phone service is also available from various national wireless companies. Cable television is available from Comcast and RCN, with broadband Internet access provided by the same companies in certain areas. A variety of DSL providers and resellers are able to provide broadband Internet over Verizon-owned phone lines. [6]

An independent Boston Internet Exchange is also located in Boston's financial distract on Summer Street.

Water

Quabbin Reservoir Quabbin Reservoir, Massachusetts.jpg
Quabbin Reservoir

Water supply and sewage-disposal services are provided by the Boston Water and Sewer Commission. [7] The Commission in turn purchases wholesale water and sewage disposal from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. The city's water comes from the Quabbin Reservoir and the Wachusett Reservoir, which are about 65 miles (105 km) and 35 miles (56 km) west of the city respectively. [8] Boston is one of five cities in the country with tap water pure enough to be exempt from Environmental Protection Agency filtration requirements. [9]

Related Research Articles

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The Boston Water and Sewer Commission (BWSC) serves retail customers with water services in Boston, Massachusetts. It purchases water wholesale from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA).

Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Public authority that provides wholesale drinking water and sewage services

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District heating Centralized heat distribution system

District heating is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating and water heating. The heat is often obtained from a cogeneration plant burning fossil fuels or biomass, but heat-only boiler stations, geothermal heating, heat pumps and central solar heating are also used, as well as heat waste from factories and nuclear power electricity generation. District heating plants can provide higher efficiencies and better pollution control than localized boilers. According to some research, district heating with combined heat and power (CHPDH) is the cheapest method of cutting carbon emissions, and has one of the lowest carbon footprints of all fossil generation plants.

Garbage disposal unit Device that shreds garbage for disposal via plumbing

A garbage disposal unit is a device, usually electrically powered, installed under a kitchen sink between the sink's drain and the trap. The disposal unit shreds food waste into pieces small enough—generally less than 2 mm (0.079 in) in diameter—to pass through plumbing.

Icon Water

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The utility infrastructure of London, England comprises a range of services and facilities that support and enable the functioning of London as a world city. Infrastructure includes facilities associated with products and materials that are consumed such as electricity, gas, water, heating and liquid fuels; materials that are produced such as sewage and solid waste; and facilities that enable communication and connectivity – telecommunications.

Moon Island (Massachusetts) Island in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts

Moon Island is an island in Quincy Bay, in the middle of Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. It is the location of the Boston Fire Department Training Academy, and Boston Police Department shooting range. All of the land on the island is owned by the City of Boston but the island is under the jurisdiction of Quincy, Massachusetts. It is also part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.

Water supply and sanitation in the United States involves a number of issues including water scarcity, pollution, a backlog of investment, concerns about the affordability of water for the poorest, and a rapidly retiring workforce. Increased variability and intensity of rainfall as a result of climate change is expected to produce both more severe droughts and flooding, with potentially serious consequences for water supply and for pollution from combined sewer overflows. Droughts are likely to particularly affect the 66 percent of Americans whose communities depend on surface water. As for drinking water quality, there are concerns about disinfection by-products, lead, perchlorates, PFAS and pharmaceutical substances, but generally drinking water quality in the U.S. is good.

Public water supply and sanitation in England and Wales has been characterised by universal access and generally good service quality. Salient features of the sector in the United Kingdom compared to other developed countries is the full privatisation of service provision and the pioneering of independent economic regulation in the sector in Europe. There has been a substantial increase in real tariffs between 1989 and 2005, whilst independent assessments place the cost of water provision in the UK as higher than most major countries in the EU. The government body responsible for water regulation, together with the water companies, have claimed improvements in service quality during the same period.

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City of Nottingham Water Department

The City of Nottingham Water Department (1912–1974), formerly the Nottingham Corporation Water Department (1880–1912), was responsible for the supply of water to Nottingham from 1880 to 1974. The first water supply company in the town was the Nottingham Waterworks Company, established in 1696, which took water from the River Leen, and later from springs at Scotholme, when the river became polluted. Other companies were set up in the late 18th century and in 1824, while in 1826 the Trent Water Company was established. They employed Thomas Hawksley as their engineer, who became one of the great water engineers of the period, and Nottingham had the first constant pressurised water supply system in the country. The various companies amalgamated in 1845, and Hawksley remained as the consulting engineer until 1879.

History of water supply and sanitation History of providing clean water and safe sanitation systems since the dawn of civilization

The history of water supply and sanitation is one of a logistical challenge to provide clean water and sanitation systems since the dawn of civilization. Where water resources, infrastructure or sanitation systems were insufficient, diseases spread and people fell sick or died prematurely.

Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, known shortly as CMWSSB, is a statutory board of Government of Tamil Nadu which provides water supply and sewage treatment to the city of Chennai and areas around it.

Water supply and sanitation in Istanbul is the responsibility of the public utility ISKI created in 1981.

Earle Bernard Phelps was a chemist, bacteriologist and sanitary expert who served in governmental positions and as an academic in some of the leading universities in the U.S. He is known for his contributions in sewage disinfection, water chlorination, sewage treatment, milk pasteurization, shellfish control, and for describing the “oxygen sag curve” in surface water bodies.

Liverpool Corporation Waterworks

Liverpool Corporation Waterworks and its successors have provided a public water supply and sewerage and sewage treatment services to the city of Liverpool, England. In 1625 water was obtained from a single well and delivered by cart, but as the town grew, companies supplied water to homes through pipes. There were two main companies by the 1840s, but the water supply was intermittent, and there was general dissatisfaction with the service. Liverpool Corporation decided that such an important service should be provided by a public body, and sought to take over the water supply companies.

References

  1. "Massachusetts News and Analysis". US Department of Health and Human Services – National Energy Affordability and Accessibility Project. September 2003. Archived from the original on December 1, 2009. Retrieved April 28, 2007.
  2. "Menino urges pols to pass steam bill – Local & Regional" . Retrieved July 20, 2007.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. "After New York explosion, Menino pushes to regulate steam – Local News Updates – The Boston Globe". July 19, 2007. Retrieved July 20, 2007.
  4. "Trigen Energy Corporation". Energy.rochester.edu. Archived from the original on February 9, 1997. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  5. "Theodore Newton Vail and the Boston Heating Company, 1886–1890". Energy.rochester.edu. Archived from the original on February 13, 1998. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  6. "Boston Utilities". Boston Central. 2004. Retrieved April 28, 2007.
  7. "Background". Boston Water and Sewer Commission. 2007. Archived from the original on February 21, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2007.
  8. "Your Drinking Water: Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, 2006 Drinking Water Report" (Press release). Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. June 19, 2007.
  9. "Pure Water Right on Tap" . Retrieved June 7, 2011.