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THE The Clyde Potts Reservoir today is owned and operated as a
public water supply resource by the Southeast Morris County Municipal Utilities
Authority (SMCMUA). During the
1920’s, under the leadership of Morristown Mayor Clyde Potts, Morristown
foresaw the need for clean drinking water, and acquired the land needed for the
reservoir. Mayor Potts, a civil
engineer specializing in water supply, and Morristown Engineer Charles K. Fetzer
worked on the design. The reservoir,
including a tunnel to convey the water and a distribution system on The reservoir was constructed in a natural “bowl” where
the little town of Harmony was located, at the crossroads of Woodland Road and
Cole Hill Road (and yes, Cole Hill, not Cold Hill).
Harmony was sited where five small streams joined to form Harmony Brook,
a source for the Harmony was home to a small community of people, mostly farmers but also craftsmen, including wood working (cooper), blacksmith, shoe making, and distillers. Their land was obtained for the reservoir project, sometimes willingly sold but sometimes unwillingly. Harmony’s residents frequented local establishments, some still here but some long gone, including the Mt. Freedom Presbyterian Church (still on Sussex Avenue at the northern end of Old Brookside Road), the Mt. Freedom School, the Brookside Grammar School, and the Doby Road School. It appears that the Harmony families were a close community, home to many generations of families. When the reservoir displaced their homes, most of the families re-settled in the same local area. Water quality standards have become increasingly stringent and more detailed over the years, and the Clyde Potts reservoir water treatment process has been upgraded several times. Most recently, in 2005, the SMCMUA constructed a state-of-the-art treatment plant that includes membrane filtration and activated carbon. The result is that the already clean water from the reservoir is purified to the highest standards for safety, taste, and odor. The Morristown Boy Scouts planted trees, including spruce, pine, and several other types of native species to provide a natural vegetative cover and base for land around the reservoir. This variety has resulted in a combination that provides colorful fall foliage together with the brilliant green of evergreens, an attractive combination. The trees also fulfill their primary purpose of stabilizing the land and protecting the water resource. The reservoir initiated by Mayor Clyde Potts in the
1920’s is still serving area residents. With
the land surrounding the reservoir now permanently protected in both Thanks to:
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