This sink–my home sink. The stainless steel teat of my childhood. The spigot that quenched my thirst when I came in from the vigorous playtimes of youth. The formative faucet that slaked my pubescent phlegm. The craning pipe under which I have bent my head to the right side a thousand times to partake of its perfectly aerated stream. The tap that turned me on to tap water. 

I cannot write an unbiased review of this water. Overtime, the nuances of taste have blended into the obscurity of intimate familiarity. The only words I can muster are vague and indicative of complete satisfaction: refreshing, clear, quenching, clean, delicious. 

I have ranted to friends about the quality of this water. I tell them, “Hold the cup.” It is best consumed via mouth suction directly from its stream, somehow reminiscent of the flow of a mountain spring. It is excellent water. 

Yet, at some point in my life, I should have noticed a shift in the quality of this water. Reading, Massachusetts has traditionally drawn its water from the Ipswich River, but switched to the Quabbin Reservoir during my youth.

In 1890, the town of Reading installed its first municipal water supply. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts first granted municipal rights to draw on this river in the early 1900s.The original system was a simple filter gallery, which redirected river water with minimal treatment to Reading residents. The town quickly realized that the water of the Ipswich River had a high iron content. They installed a treatment facility in 1910 and switched to five bedrock wells for sourcing the water. In 1931, the town constructed a well field. 

After World War II, Reading began to grow in population and develop land. It went from a largely rural town to a suburban one. The town’s demand on the river were already troublingly high in the 1960s, when several hydrological surveys were commissioned. Yet it was not until the 1990s that the debate over the water came to a head. 

By this time, the demand for water was sucking the Ipswich River dry. During summer months, the river would be empty of all water, a cracked mud riverbed, as Reading residents watered their lawns, filled their pools, and washed their cars. 

This is not to say other towns did not use the water. Reading, North Reading, Wilmington, and Lynnfield all drew on the upper Ipswich River for water, but Reading was the only town exporting its sewage to Boston for treatment. While this may sound like a good thing, in reality, the septic systems of the other towns would eventually filter water back into the Ipswich watershed. The water Reading used, on the other hand, was removed from the watershed entirely, and eventually dumped into the Atlantic Ocean after treatment. 

An Ipswich River Task Force formed in 1996 to address the water supply issue. The watchdog organization, American Rivers, called Ipswich River one of America’s 20 most threatened rivers in 1997. On top of all this, the water was not up to federal standards due to low oxygen levels and high iron content. 

In 2005, the town signed a contract with the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). This body provides drinking water to dozens of Massachusetts communities, sourcing the stuff from the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs in the center of the state.

The town of Reading was incorporate in 1644, but residents must have relied on their own wells for water during the first 250 years of the town’s history. Once the town began supplying water, the debates and changes never ceased. 

While I cannot say I remember the flavor of the Ipswich River, I know that Reading’s tap water kept me hydrated throughout my childhood–and did so in delicious and refreshing style.