Water, Water Everywhere
by Sarah Teach
Wherever you are on Nantucket, you know you can quickly reach water.
And that's one reason we all love Nantucket. We swim in it; we sail through
it; we breathe in its salty scent, thick with the promise of life. But we cannot
drink the seawater that surrounds us. (That is, unless we covet a slow death
by dehydration!) And with 30 miles of that seawater between our tiny
stretch of sand and the rest of the world, we don't have the "next town over" resources upon which other locations can rely. We are on our own to find
clean water. The charming landmark water pump in Sconset might lead visitors
to believe that the town gets its water from old-world artisan wells.
Robert Gardner, General Manager of Nantucket's Wannacomet Water
Company, chuckles and dispels the notion: "That's a rumor. There's not an
artisan well on this island." So where does Nantucket's fresh water come
from?
Gardner begins with a quick history lesson: "The island was created
10,000 years ago by the last of the glaciations." Plunging hundreds of feet
below sea level is our aquifer, a bowl-shaped store of fresh water that is captured
beneath the island in the sand, which serves as an excellent natural
filter. The lens, or the water within the dense clay walls of the "bowl," is
replenished by rainfall. "It's a pretty complex geological system," says
Gardner. The Wannacomet Water Company serves the water needs of the
entire island, including Siasconset through contracting. The west end of the
island, Madaket, requires more specialized care as the "bowl" is more shallow
in that region. "There are two schools of thought about Madaket's
water," explains Gardner. "Some say that part of the island has an entirely
separate lens of water; others think it's connected with the rest of the
island's lens." But regardless of which school your opinion attends, one thing is clear: Nantucket's water is wonderfully fresh and clean. "We have
amazing water quality. We do nothing to it," says Gardner, grinning with
pride before growing a bit more serious. "But that's a two-edged sword. If
something happens to the water, we're screwed." When a water company
does not chlorinate its water, it becomes a challenge to keep various chemical levels where they need to be for public safety. But Nantucket's water
company takes pride in ensuring that those levels stay where they should be. "We put a lot of effort into creating and mailing out our annual report," says
Gardner with a smile.
Indeed, Wannacomet
Water Company has put our
island in the hands of sound
leadership. Gardner has
spent the past 30 years in
the business of bringing the
freshest water possible to
communities. Although he
ended up in a career with
vast societal value, his path
to it was simple: "I needed a
job," Gardner says frankly. "I had graduated college in
1970. I did some active duty
years with the National
Guard, and after that, I
wanted to be a schoolteacher.
But in 1972, in
Springfield, Vermont, there
were no teaching jobs." He
shrugs and continues.
Water filter, 1892
"Someone told me that the town needed people to read water meters. I said, 'I can do that,' and I really
liked the business once I got into it. You felt like you were actually doing
something to help people." A few years passed before Gardner moved to
Burlington, VT to manage the city's water district. Through professional
connections, Gardner got to know islander David Worth, Wannacomet's
then-general manager. Gardner says, "I always joked with [Worth] and said,
'When you retire, you give me a call.' Well, he did. I came out, interviewed,
and got the job." In 1995, Gardner and his wife moved to Nantucket full
time. In lieu of having fulfilled his young adulthood dream of being a history
teacher, Gardner will gladly offer a history lesson to anyone who is interested
in learning about Nantucket's water.
A piece of history that Gardner loves to share is the beginning of the
Wannacomet Water Company. From about 1880 to 1902, it was called the
Wannacomet Water and Ice Company, and the company served the island's
needs beyond providing clean water. "They did anything to make a buck," says Gardner. "They even grew potatoes!" At this, Gardner laughs and adds, "I suspect they had the property [to grow potatoes], and the town had
a need for potatoes." He raises his hands, laughing a bit more at the concept.
In recognition of the island's interesting water history, the Nantucket
Water Commission aims to have an interpretive historic walking path in
place around Washing Pond by this time next year. They are looking to
restore the surrounding area back to grasslands, ridding it of the poison ivy
and scrub oak that has invaded. This coming October, local historian and
author Dr. Frances Karttunen will publish Moses Tapped the Washing Pond:
A History of Wannacomet Water Company, a brand new book packed with
colorful stories and images of the people who have shaped Nantucket's water business through the years.
Photos courtesy of the Wannacomet Water Company
In our modern day, you do not need to dig too deeply to find that there
are a number of environmentalists on Nantucket who scoff at the endless
field of bright green lawns, citing waste of our resource. Gardner, however,
counters that viewpoint: "I have absolutely no problem with lawn watering.
Being able to have a green lawn is a big part of Nantucket's economy; people come out here because they can have that. On a given summer day,
upwards of 50% of all water usage is going towards irrigation. And it
employs landscapers, irrigation specialists, and [through lawn watering]
they're putting water right back into the aquifer. We're in a unique situation
where we don't have to worry about quantity." Instead, Gardner says that
the biggest threat facing Nantucket's water supply today is ignorance. "If
people just assume that the water is there forever and nothing can harm it,
that's the problem," he says. Everyone who visits Nantucket can help the
cause by being mindful of dumping chemicals of any kind into the soil in any
part of the island. Residents in particular can make a difference by ensuring
that their property's storm water runoff and fertilizer use is being executed
properly and with regard to Nantucket's ecosystem.
Wannacomet makes efforts to inform the public about the need for
action-based support. During our recent Race Week festivities,
Wannacomet handed out water bottles bearing their slogan, Only Tap Water
Delivers. Gardner explains the slogan's meaning: "We deliver water quality;
we deliver water to maintain fire protection; we deliver water to the hospital
for public health. Clean water is important." Gardner raises his eyebrows
and reveals a sobering reality: "No water, no beer."
Next time you turn a Nantucket faucet, or pour yourself a glass of
sparklingly clean water, take an outdoor shower after a day at the beach, or
crack open a local brew, take a moment to relish the luxuriously pure water
that we have here on Nantucket. With everyone's attentiveness to not
harming our precious resource, Nantucket can remain a place with a water
source worth celebrating.
