Regional water plant planned for Saco River

KENNEBUNK, Maine — In the wake of the region’s recent drought, the Maine Water Company is planning to build a new $50 million water treatment facility with capacity to meet the needs of water districts from Portland to Kittery.

With an eye on regional cooperation, the company is making sure its new facility, which will harness the power of the Saco River, is expandable — good news for water district superintendents in York County who expect the demand for public drinking water to grow in the region.

The new facility would have an initial capacity to treat 20 million gallons a day. All the water systems in southern Maine currently produce about a combined 40 million gallons of “finished water” per day, according to a release from Maine Water President Judy Wallingford.

The new Saco River facility is expected to be online and serving customers in the fall of 2020. It will replace the existing treatment facility in Biddeford, which serves customers in Biddeford, Saco, Old Orchard Beach and Scarborough. The outdated plant on South Street in Biddeford was  built in 1884 and sits in the floodplain of the Saco River. The new facility will be well out of the floodplain, on the western side of South Street. Maine Water will file applications for environmental permits in the middle of this year, finish design in the fall of 2018, with construction to start once design and permitting is complete.

Regionalization

The Legislature passed a law in 2005 that led to the creation of the Southern Maine Regional Water Council. Council members include the Maine Water Company and Portland, the Kennebunk/Kennebunkport/Wells, Sanford, South Berwick, York and Kittery water districts.

York Water District Superintendent Don Neumann took advantage of the council connections last summer when he faced dropping water levels at Chases Pond, the town’s sole water supply.

“People were in a panic about the drought, and we felt a little guilty that we weren’t in a panic, but it was because I knew I could make a call to Norm (Labbe, superintendent of Kennebunk Kennebunkport Wells Water District) and he could turn a valve and we’d be OK until our levels came back up,” Neumann said.

He said the new facility in Saco will give him further peace of mind.

All of the water district superintendents agree the new Saco River facility will help them sleep at night.

“We’ll be positioned with a backup plan that will meet seen and unforeseen needs,” Labbe said.

The council works together to plan ways to respond to all types of disaster scenarios.

“Everything from a drought and other weather disasters to something like a post-9/11 scenario, those are all things we need to consider,” Labbe said.

South Berwick residents learned first hand about the effects of drought on the public water supply last fall. The towns' water district uses groundwater for its supply and high manganese and arsenic levels, believed to be caused by the drought, were found in the town’s water supply. The water department struggled with water quality, trying to remedy high manganese and arsenic levels for several months. Residents alerted local officials of black water and brown sediment coming out of their taps.

“The new Maine Water facility will ensure greater resiliency in the water systems,” said Rick Knowlton, vice president of the Maine Water Company. "It will reduce loss of service and provide a consistent water quality.” 

“Drought relief is just one benefit of regional connections, there are many others,” Knowlton said. “During the worst days of the recent drought, we drew just over 1 percent of the river’s flow past our intake pipe in Biddeford. The ability of the Saco River to help others in times of drought is significant, and the incremental impact of additional water withdrawals would not be environmentally significant."

Knowlton said the Saco River is extremely clean and plentiful. The river originates at Saco Lake in New Hampshire's White Mountains near Crawford Notch.

"Its potential to help the region with all its water needs is impressive, and its expanded use would reduce the environmental impact of stressed resources currently being used by some of the southern water systems," he said.

'Foothold into a long-term solution'

York County water district superintendents say initially the new facility will give them a much-needed backup. In the long term, many of the districts may turn to the new Saco River system as their primary source of water.

Labbe said in the 33 years he has been with the KK&W Water District their peak day of water usage has almost doubled and they’ve seen a total growth of 80 percent.

“If that kind of growth continues, you’re looking at growth outstripping supply," he said. "Realistically, we'll probably be one of the first districts to sign on."

Sanford Water District Superintendent David Parent said the new facility will give his district options when infrastructure upgrades become necessary. Sanford Water District has nine water sources to serve customers, putting it in a stable position for now.

“Right now, we are probably in the best position, but when you start looking at replacing infrastructure, that will come at a huge cost. We also need to look at, what if we needed another 1 to 2 million gallons, where would that come from? What would that look like? For the time being we like it as a backup, but we don’t know what the future will bring,” Parent said.

All the council's district superintendents said the new facility will give them another card in their deck of resources to meet the needs of their customers as they plan 10 to 20 years ahead.

“This is a long-lived project. We’re saying it’s going to provide a century of service,” Knowlton said.

“This is a blueprint so that all of us can design and plan over the next 50 years. This gives us a foothold into a long-term solution,” added Chris Crovo, executive manager of asset management for the Portland Water District.

The cost of public water

Kittery Water District superintendent Mike Rogers said replacement of the town's aging water treatment facility came with a $30 million price tag; an untenable cost for the district and town.

“We just couldn’t do it, so we’re doing a $5 (million) to $6 million phased upgrade instead,” Rogers said.

Knowlton said this is where economies of scale come into play. The $50 million Saco River facility will eventually be able to serve 50,000 customers across southern Maine.

The Saco River watershed is 1,700 square miles of clean water, Knowlton said. Two billion gallons flow past the current treatment center every day.

“Even in a drought, we had a flow of over 500 million gallons a day,” Knowlton said. This is enough to serve the needs of all of southern Maine, including the city of Portland, which currently relies on Sebago Lake to supply water to nearly 15 percent of the state’s population.

“Our planning is here and now,” Knowlton said. “By building this new facility, we are offering to deliver a major component of the regional water plan. As our project proceeds, we will stay in close contact with all members of the Southern Maine Regional Water Council, and we will do all we can to facilitate our neighbors’ interest in a regional policy of mutual aid.”

For more information, visit www.MaineWater.com.