Dover & Foxcroft Water District committed to the community

DOVER-FOXCROFT — A faucet is turned on and water comes out. But where does the water come from and how does it go from the source to the fixture?

Overseeing this is the job of the Dover & Foxcroft Water District and the district has a mission statement of being committed to providing safe, high quality water services to the community while maintaining a standard of excellence in customer service and environmental conservation.

The district has an ongoing focus that includes system resiliency and drought preparedness; water loss reduction and leak detection; infrastructure modernization and replacement of aging components; improved mapping, tracking and data-driven decision making; and maintaining safe, reliable and compliant drinking water for the community.

“951 customers are turned on right now,” Superintendent Louis R. Durgin Jr. said.

The Dover & Foxcroft Water District is made up of four full-time professionals: Durgin, Office Manager Alison Belote, Distribution Operator Justin Gilbert and Maintenance Technician Sammy Towner. 

They take great pride in their roles. Their dedication, professionalism and community to public health and environmental stewardship allow the district to consistently deliver safe, high-quality drinking water. This commitment extends well beyond the standard workday. Staff are on call year-round and routinely respond to emergency water main breaks, system failures and after-hours service calls in all conditions. This can be the middle of the night, severe weather or peak demand periods and the team is prepared to act quickly to protect water service and public safety.

Together the four represent the public side of the district, serving as the direct connection with the town. Their work spans far beyond day-to-day operations, requiring technical expertise, rapid response to emergencies, careful system monitoring and a strong commitment to customer service. 

“Right now we have such a great crew,” Durgin said. “They make my job easier.”

The district has a treatment plant on the Fletcher Road near the Guilford line and an office in town at 48 Morton Ave. Suite B.

“We do daily testing here,” Durgin said while standing in the plant lab. Tests are conducted on water pH — too low can lead to pipe corrosion — and chlorine and fluoride levels. 

“We are looking for any changes that may lead to another issue,” he said.

Water comes in from the Salmon Stream Pond source about four miles away and is chemically adjusted before going out, with solids filtered after these materials have been bonded together. These and the accompanying liquid are taken out of a storage tank after settling and go off to a treatment facility to be taken care of.

Five members of the Dover & Foxcroft Water District Board of Trustees support staff behind the scenes. The trustees are community-minded leaders who provide oversight, governance and long-term strategic direction. The board plays a critical role in ensuring the district continues to grow responsibly while protecting the community’s safe and reliable public water system. 

Staff are required to maintain professional licensure and stay current with the continually evolving regulations set forth by the EPA and Maine Drinking Water Program. They need to take part in ongoing training, have attention to detail and a proactive approach to compliance and system management. The work is demanding and often performed under challenging circumstances, where quick decision making and technical knowledge are essential.

A unique combination of skill, responsibility and personal commitment is needed, and the individuals serving the district embody those qualities every day.

The Dover & Foxcroft Water District continues to make strategic investments in infrastructure, safety and long-term stability. Through proactive planning, grant funding and in-house expertise, the district has completed numerous projects aimed at strengthening water reliability and supporting future growth. Staff and trustees remain focused on improving system reliability, safety and long-term resiliency while continuing to provide high quality drinking water to customers.

This year the district will be working on a $2.6 million West Main Street water main replacement project, a major infrastructure upgrade to a critical 100-year-old transmission line from the treatment plant to the community. Funding is from a combination of district investment, a $1,000,000 Northern Border Region Commission grant and MDWP funding.

The main replacement project will install properly-sized mains to support commercial development along West Main Street. Existing lines currently run through wooded river areas and are not adequate for long-term service or future growth.

Over the last near decade the district has carried out a number of key projects and reached milestones. These include 2018: responded to drought conditions by installing a new intake at Salmon Stream Pond and replaced water main, services and fire hydrants on Davis Street;

2019: upgraded security across all district facilities, including the installation of cameras and alarm systems;

2020: reconstructed the dam impoundment and spillway at Salmon Stream Pond with matching grant funding from the Maine Emergency Management Agency and completed a 4-year, in-house effort to develop a more comprehensive GIS-based digital mapping system of all district assets;

2021: replaced a pair of service vehicles and completed significant repairs to valves and pressure vessels at the water treatment plant;

2022: initiated replacement of the aging chemical feed system at the treatment plant, purchased three new chemical feed pumps and worked with engineers to update the programmable logic controller control system, received the Maine Rural Water Association’s Source Water Protection Award for work at Salmon Stream Pond and utilized Maine Drinking Water Program grant funding to locate and drill a test well for potential secondary supply during extended drought conditions;

2023: compelled installation of the new chemical feed system and PLC updates at the treatment plant;

2024: purchased a trailer-mounted vacuum excavator with MDWP matching grant funding, replaced over 50 curb stops throughout the system and expanded the district’s first comprehensive service line inventory to identify material composition on both the district and customer side of every service connection;

2025: implemented a rate adjustment to support future infrastructure upgrades, rising operational costs and improvements to the billing platform and completed a water main replacement at the Route 7/Route 15 (South and East Main Street) intersection in partnership with the Maine Department of Transportation and with 40% MDWP grant funding. This project introduced a forward-thinking “hub” design to improve system capacity, allow for future connections and reduce disruptions by keeping infrastructure out of high-traffic areas.

After being 100% paper-based, the Dover & Foxcroft Water District will have a new online billing platform later this year. “Similar to what you get with other utilities,” Durgin said.

Customers can create their own accounts to pay through the website or have payments deducted from a banking account automatically. 

The feature allows for easier tracking of payments over time to help customers adjust water usage.

The district has been using radio reading meters for over a decade and a half and forthcoming new equipment and software will make this process even faster to help indicate potential leaks or breaks in the system. 

Leaky toilets are the biggest cause of wasted water, Durgin said.

The superintendent will soon be bringing to the trustees an approximate $75,000 “Water Loss Reduction & Drought Resilience Project” which, per a synopsis, would implement advanced acoustic leak detection technology to identify and repair leaks within the distribution system. As drought conditions in the state place increasing pressure on available water resources, reducing losses is critical to maintaining a sustainable supply. 

Water lost through leaks is treated and pumped water that never is delivered to customers, resulting in wasted energy, increased operational costs and reduced system capacity. By deploying permanent installed monitored devices capable of real-time leak detection and remote data analysis, the district will improve response times, reduce non-revenue water and conserve water and energy alike. The project will strengthen long-term water reliability, improve system efficiency and support responsible resource management in the face of changing climate conditions. 

Up to a million gallons of water has been lost in a year, Durgin said. With the Water Loss Reduction & Drought Resilience Project” monitoring units would be placed on hydrants to monitor acoustic noises over a period of time to detect abnormalities.

Detections can pinpoint where a leak or break is to allow staff to locate and fix the problem.

The biggest loss for the district is “unaccounted for water.” Durgin said about 8-12% of water produced is lost or unaccounted for and the goal is to reduce this percentage.

Potential project funding sources are being looked at.

The district has received the Maine Department of Labor Safety and Health Award for Public Employers (SHAPE) honor consecutively since 2019, recognizing a strong commitment to workplace safety and employee involvement. 

For more information, see the Dover & Foxcroft Water District website at https://doverfoxcroftwater.org/, Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DFWaterDistrict or call 207-564-2310.