Time of Travel Study : Pawtuxet River, Rhode Island.


                        TIME OF TRAVEL STUDY
                    PAWTUXET RIVER,  RHODE ISLAND

                        JULY AND AUGUST 1973


      A time of travel  study was conducted by the  personnel  of  Region I,

 United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),  on the Pawtuxet

 River in Rhode Island,  near Warwick,  West Warwick and Cranston.   The

 study area was broken up  into  three main reaches  and  further subdivided

 for  dye dumps.   The three main reaches were:

      !•   Pawtuxet River - The  main  stem from the  confluence of the

 North and South Branches  to the mouth in Narragansett Bay.

      2.   North Branch - From the Scituate Reservoir to the  confluence

 of the North and South  Branch.

      3.   South Branch - From Flat River Reservoir  to  the confluence  of

 the  North and  South Branch.


 I.   OBSERVATIONS

      1.   There  is a tremendous  amount of  flow control on the river,

which directly affects  the  time of travel of the river.   Primary control

 is at  the  source, both  the Flat River Reservoir on the South Branch and

 the  Scituate Reservoir on the North Branch.

      2.  The number of dams, the large number of diversions from the

river, both natural and man made, and the inaccessibility of the river

made  it very difficult to determine the location of the  dye peak.  In

some cases, particularly on the South Branch, estimates  of time of travel

for a total reach were made from actual data on only 50  to 75  percent of

the total reach.

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3. On the river there are a large number of industries that take
in water froni the river and/or discharge waste water to the river which
cause a certain degree of interference with the dye study.
II. FLOW DATA
Flow data for the study was obtained from the United States
Geological Survey gaging stations in the study area. The stations
were at Washington, Rhode Island on the South Branch and at Cranston,
Rhode Island on the Pawtuxet River. There are no gaging stations
on the North Branch. However, as an alternative, included in the
flow data is the discharge from the Scituate Reservoir as reported
to us by the City of Providence Water Department. This discharge
from the Scituate Reservoir only occurred during a 4 to 8 hour period
during the working day. The Flows as reported to us were:
North Branch South Branch Pawtuxet River
Discharge from at at
Date Scituate Reservoir Washington, R.I. Cranston, R.I .
(NG j (cfs) (cfs)
7/23 9.30 68 238
7/24 9.21 101 266
7/25 22.89 78 282
7/26 9.35 29 246
7/27 16.29 39 221
8/7 16.94 36 228
—2—

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North Branch South Branch Pawtuxet River
Discharge from at at
Date Scituate Reservoir Washington, R.I. Cranston, R.I .
(MG) (cfs) (cfs)
8/8 16.94 32 221
8/9 16.83 33 221
8/10 25.21 35 220
III. DESCRIPTION OF REACHES
The following is a description of the reaches as they were sub-
divided for the time of travel study:
A. Pawtuxet River
Reach (/1 — From the foot bridge at Pontiac Print Works, 1000’
downstream of the Rt. 5 Bridge in West Warwick to the mouth of the river
at Narragansett Bay in Warwick, Rhode Island.
Reach #2 — From the dam forming Natick Pond 1000’ downstream
of the Rt. 33 Bridge in West Warwick to the foot bridge at Pontiac
Print Works.
Reach #3 — Prom the confluence of the North and South Branch
to the dam forming Natick Pond.
B. North Branch
Reach #1 — From the first bridge over the North Branch upstream
from the West Warwick-Coventry town line near Win. Heller Co. to the
confluence of the North and South Branch.
Reach #2 — From the dam downstream of the Cranston—Coventry town
line near Arkwright, Inc. to the dam near Win. Heller Co.
—3—

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Reach #3 - Prom the dam near Falvey Laundry approximately
one—half mile upstream from Arkwright, Inc. to the dam near Arkwright,
Inc.
Reach #4 — Prom Rt. 116 Bridge in Hope, Rhode Island to the
dam near Palvey Laundry.
Reach #5 — From the source at the Scituate Reservoir to a dam
1000’ upstream of the Rt. 116 Bridge in Hope, Rhode Island.
C. South Branch
Reach #1 — From the bridge downstream of I tco Co. at the
north end of West Warwick Center to the dam just above Ace Dyeing Co.
(The Old Saybrook Mills).
Reach #2 — From the Rt. 117 Bridge near Agawam Dye Co. in
West Warwick to the dam near tco Co.
Reach #3 — From the dam near Hope Valley Dyeing Co. in West
Warwick to the Rt. 11.7 Bridge.
Reach #4 — From the dam just upstream of the Coventry—West
Warwick town line to the dam near Hope Valley Dye Co.
Reach #5 — Prom the dam upstream of American Hoechst Corp. to
the dam near the Coventry—West Warwick town lines.
Reach #6 — From the Pilgrim Avenue Bridge upstream of Concordia
Mfg. Co. to the dam upstream of American Hoechst Corp.
Reach #7 — From the United States Geological Survey gaging
station in the South Branch to the dam upstream of Concordia Mfg. Co.
—4—

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IV. SUMMARY OF TIME OF TRAVEL DATA
(See attached.)
V. NAMES OF PEOPLE AND INDUSTRY CONTACTED
We would like to acknowledge the assistance of the following
people during the Time of Travel Study in Rhode Island.
*Mr. Robert Galkin Tel. #828—0300
Natco Products
33 Factory Street
West Warwick, Rhode Island
Mr. Erwin P. Graf Tel. #821—1200
Esmond Enterprises
American Hoechst Corp.
129 Oionick Street
West Warwick, Rhode Island
Hope Valley Dyeing Co. Tel. #821—3880
Mr. Westerinan (owner)
Mr. Gus Pimentao (superintendent)
Wm. Heller Co. Tel. #821—5585
Frank Magnussen (president)
Brian Martin (chemist)
Ace Dyeing Co.
West Warwick, Rhode Island
Arkwright Manufacturing Co.
Mr. Wilson (plant superintendent)
Falvey Laundry
Mr. Falvey
Mr. Gordon Searles Tel. #223—2822
U.S. Geological Survey
Boston Office
City of Providence Water Department Tel. #521—6300
Mr. John Rogers
*Mr. Robert Galkin and Mr. Erwin Graf as well as being an industrial contact,
are on a board of directors that controls the flow from Flat River Reservoir.
—5—

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SUMMARY OF TIME OF TRAVEL DATA
PAWTUXET RIVER JULY — AUGUST 1973
REACH
Pawtuxet
River
#1
#2
//3
North Branch -
FLOW 244
CALCULATED
TIME OF TRAVEL
FOR TOTAL REACH
(Hrs.)
22.3
15.2
9.3
cfs
9 1 14
6.9
4.9
5.6
32.4
cfs
7.4
ii .1
OF TRAVEL
TINE OF
TRAVEL
(Hrs.)
21.5
10.5
8.75
= 46.8 hrs.
7.5
5.75
3.5
5.1
2412
OF TRAVEL = 59.2 hrs.
3.5
7.1
DATE *TOTAL LENGTH
OF OF REACH
RUN (Ft.) _________________________________
7—23—73 38500
7—23—73 13700
8—7—73 5000
AVE ____________________________________________________
#1 7—24—73 11200
#2 7—25—73 4700
1/3 7—25—73 2800
#4 7—25—73 4400
//5 7—25—73 10500
AVE _______________
South Branch #1 8—10—73 4500
#2 8—7—73 4000
#3 5000
#4 8—8—73 4600 6.7
#5 8—9—73 5400 5.9
#6 8—10—73 1800 2.2
#7 8—10—73 20000 58.47 5000 14.5
AVE FLOW = 35 cfs TIME OF TRAVEL = 100.8 hrs.
*Total Length of Reach is the distance between pts. as described in the description of reaches.
**Length of Reach Tliiied is the distance the dye traveled during the time it was observed.
FLOW = 175
**LENGTR OF
REACH TIMED VEL
(Ft/eec)
37500 0.48
9700 0.25
4800 0.15
TIME
9000 0.33
4000 0.19
2000 0.16
4000 0.22
8000 0.09
__________________ TIME
2200 0.17
2500 0.10
No Data (Time of Travel assumed to be 10 hrs.)
4600 6.75 019
5400 5.9 0.25
1800 2.2 0.23
0.095

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