MetroWest Water Supply Tunnel

MetroWest Water Supply Tunnel
MetroWest Water Supply Tunnel
Coordinates42°18′40″N 71°35′06″W / 42.31111°N 71.58500°W / 42.31111; -71.58500
BeginsMarlborough
EndsWeston
Official nameMWWST
Maintained byMWRA
Characteristics
Total length17.6 mi (28.3 km)
Diameter14 ft (4.3 m)
Capacity1.893×10^6 m3 per day (500×10^6 US gal)
History
Construction start1996
OpenedNovember 2003 (November 2003)
Location
Map

The MetroWest Water Supply Tunnel (MWWST) is an advanced underground aqueduct that supplies potable water to residents of much of Greater Boston. It is part of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) water supply system, having entered operation in November 2003.[1]

This aqueduct starts at the John J. Carroll Water Treatment Plant in Marlborough, Massachusetts, and ends at an MWRA terminal in Weston, Massachusetts. It is about 17.6 miles (28.3 km) long (28.3 km) and is constructed far below ground level, mostly in bedrock.[1] It includes several vertical risers called shafts, lined with steel, used to make connections throughout the system. It is built underneath portions of Marlborough, Southborough, Framingham, Wayland, and Weston, Massachusetts, with a wye intersection 235 feet (71.6 m) below the Massachusetts Turnpike former toll booths at State Route 128.

  1. ^ a b "On Tap Today". The Boston Globe. November 3, 2003. p. A14. Retrieved November 27, 2019 – via newspapers.com.