Volunteer employees from utility company Connecticut Water and Middlefield-based forestry company Connwood Foresters Inc. recently planted 400 white pine trees around Killingworth Reservoir as part of a “leaf screen” project aimed at protecting the water source.
Volunteer employees from utility company Connecticut Water and Middlefield-based forestry company Connwood Foresters Inc. recently planted 400 white pine trees around Killingworth Reservoir as part of a “leaf screen” project aimed at protecting the water source.
The plantings create a conifer buffer along the reservoir’s shoreline that blocks deciduous leaves from entering the water. Decomposing leaf matter releases nutrients and organic material that can degrade water quality, increase treatment demands and clog filters, Connecticut Water said.
The evergreens, which retain their needles year-round, also help stabilize soil and slow runoff, allowing water to percolate through the ground where it is naturally filtered and cooled before reaching the reservoir, Connecticut Water said.
Killingworth Reservoir, along with the adjacent Kelseytown Reservoir, supplies source water to Connecticut Water’s William Neal MacKenzie Drinking Water Treatment Facility, which serves more than 24,000 customers across Guilford, Madison, Clinton, Westbrook and Old Saybrook.
Connecticut Water owns more than 6,500 acres of dedicated open space across the state, which protects its water sources. The company said it continues to acquire additional watershed land when opportunities arise.
The Clinton-based utility, which is owned by investor-owned H2O America, serves more than 108,000 water customers in 60 Connecticut municipalities and provides wastewater service to about 3,000 customers in Southbury.
