In the evening on the day of Boston's water supply break, I went to see what eight million gallons per hour look like. It happened in a place just upstream on the Charles River from my mother's house. Unlike the initial reports, this was the perfect place for a problem. It's one of the very few places in this area that is (relatively) far from any home or business and right next to the river. It occurred on what used to be a road that was closed to vehicles (I guess) in the 1960's when the bridge needed repairs. Subsequently a pedestrian bridge was built in its place which quickly closed when the wood rotted.
When I was a few hundred yards away from the river, I realized I could hear two sounds. The news helicopter circling above me and the sound of rushing water. The color of the river had changed to several shades of brown. The most dramatic part of the entire experience was the sound of the tiny waterfall. I wish I had taken a video to try to capture that sound.
I watched two kayakers paddle down the river. (There is a popular canoe and kayak rental place just downstream.) I don't think they knew anything strange was happening! The man saw me on the opposite bank taking photos and pointed out the waterfall to his companion. What shocked me was what did not happen. They entered the stream of water in the middle of the river but they did not speed up to any noticeable degree. Eight million gallons per hour added to a small river is not much. The only real effect to the river was the movement of soil and sediment changing its color to brown.
Paul
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