Editing Scituate, Rhode Island (section)

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of 54.8&nbsp;square miles (141.9&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), of which 48.7&nbsp;square miles (126.1&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>)  is land and 6.1&nbsp;square miles (15.8&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>)  (11.15%) is water.

===Scituate Reservoir===
{{main|Scituate Reservoir}}
[[File:Hope Dam (51953).jpg|thumb|The Hope Dam on the [[Pawtuxet River]]]]
One of the most prominent features of the town is the Scituate Reservoir.  The large reservoir spans a large portion of Scituate and has forever changed the face of the town.  During construction of the reservoir, numerous villages were flooded along the former banks of the Pawtuxet River. Some foundations of the old structures are still visible today during times of drought.  The reservoir, and a large portion of land surrounding, it is owned and maintained by the Providence Water Supply Board.

The main Scituate reservoir was formed by the construction of a dam across the Pawtuxet River at the former village of Kent. The dam, principally of earth, is about {{convert|3200|ft|m|-1}} long and {{convert|100|ft|m|-1}} high. Water storage in the reservoir began on November 10, 1925. An aqueduct from the dam feeds the nearby treatment plant which was placed in operation on September 30, 1926.

The Scituate Reservoir is the largest artificial freshwater body of water in the state of Rhode Island. It has an aggregate capacity of {{convert|39|e9USgal|e6m3}} and a surface area of {{convert|5.3|sqmi|abbr=off|sp=us}}. It and its six tributary reservoirs—which make up a total surface area of {{convert|7.2|sqmi|abbr=on}}—supply drinking water to more than 60 percent of the state population. The surrounding [[drainage basin]] that provides water to the reservoir system covers an area of about {{convert|94|sqmi|abbr=on}}, which includes most of the town of Scituate and parts of Foster, Glocester, Johnston, and Cranston. The Scituate Reservoir is operated by Providence Water Supply Board.

The original treatment plant was state-of-the-art at the time of its construction. The plant was considered to be among the most technologically advanced of its day, and for many years the filtration system was the only plant of its type in New England. As demand continued to grow, the treatment plant underwent major expansions and renovations in the 1940s and again in the 1960s. Today, the plant has a maximum treatment capacity of {{convert|144|e6USgal|m3}} of water per day and still remains the largest treatment facility in New England.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Providence Water and the Scituate Reservoir |url=http://www.provwater.com/history.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061026100126/http://www.provwater.com/history.htm |archive-date=October 26, 2006 |url-status=dead |publisher=Providence Water Supply Board |access-date=October 5, 2006}}</ref>