Seabrook Water and Sewer - Part 1 of 2

First of two articles about the Seabrook Water and Sewer Departments

This March, Seabrook voters will vote on two Warrant Articles relating to the Seabrook Water Department, and one relating to the Seabrook Wastewater Department. These Warrant Articles represent substantial investments in complex infrastructure, which is critical to Seabrook. Since most of this infrastructure is invisible to its users, we will be publishing a two-part series on the Seabrook Water and Wastewater Departments. We will cover what they are, how they work, and the reasons for the Warrant Articles.

This article will do a deep-dive on the Seabrook Water Department. The next one will cover the Seabrook Sewer Department.

What is The Seabrook Water Department?

The Seabrook Water Department is responsible for providing water to the residents and businesses of Seabrook. Seabrook Water manages the wells and pumps which draw the water from the ground, and treat it to drinkable standards. This clean water is then pumped through the town’s water mains and branches to over 4,000 individual services at Seabrook homes and businesses.

Curtis Slayton is the Superintendent of the Seabrook Water Departments. George Eaton is the Chief Water Operator. The Seabrook Water Department is located at 550 Route 107, just beyond The Brook.

In an upcoming article, we will address the “other side” of Seabrook’s water processing infrastructure, the Seabrook Wastewater Department. The diagram below is an overview of the flows of water and wastewater in Seabrook.

Overview of Seabrook Water and Wastewater operations

History

Seabrook’s current Water and Wastewater infrastructure was built in 1996. Prior to that time, most of Seabrook’s water and sewer needs were met by private wells and septic tanks. As Seabrook’s residential and commercial population has expanded, it was necessary to build a water and sewer system to accommodate the growth. The Seabrook Water Department continues to meet those needs with the original infrastructure, installed twenty-nine years ago.

Current Operations

In 2023, the Seabrook Water Department treated and pumped 264,423,000 gallons of water from the Ground Water Treatment Facility, and pumped 111,485,000 gallons from the town’s gravel packed wells 1, 3 and 7. This yielded a total of 375,908,000 gallons per year, or just over 1,000,000 gallons per day. This water was then pumped to the distribution system for use by the homes and businesses in Seabrook.

In addition, 16,000 gallons of sludge was removed from the water treatment facility’s holding tanks and trucked to the Berwick Maine Sewer District by the Seabrook Water Department using the Sewer Department’s pump truck.

Water Pumps

Treatment tanks

It’s important to note that the Seabrook Water Department has added no new capacity to the water system since it opened in 1996. All of Seabrook’s water needs have been met by this equipment, for twenty-nine years. As we all know, the number of residential and business structures has increased significantly in that time. Currently, water consumption is at 100% in July and August.

Seabrook Water: Upcoming 2025 Warrant Articles

In March 2025, Seabrook voters will vote on two Warrant Articles related to Seabrook Water; Warrant Article #5 and Warrant Article #6.

Warrant Article #5 proposes to raise $8,600,000 to increase Seabrook’s water capacity. This work would add five wells – two off Weare Road and three off Stard Road - and the infrastructure to deliver the water to the Seabrook Water Department for processing and distribution. The Weare Road water sources were discovered on the land donated to Seabrook for the Governor Weare Park. These five new wells would draw approximately 288,000 and 835,200 gallons of water per day, respectively, to accommodate Seabrook’s need of an additional 1,000,000 gallons per day. The five new wells to be brought online with this project are expected to handle Seabrook’s water demands for the foreseeable future.

Warrant Article #5 proposes the following;

· upgrades to the water system, including developing existing the five new wells on Stard Road and Weare Road.

· Infrastructure for connecting these new municipal water sources to the Seabrook Water treatment facility

· Upgrading the Seabrook water treatment facility controls and treatment systems, to replace the twenty-nine year old current equipment

Seabrook Water and Wastewater Commissioner Curtis Slayton pointing out new wellheads at Governor Weare Park

Proposed new water mains to bring water from Governor Weare wells to Seabrook Water Treatment Facility

Warrant Article #6 proposes to raise $1,200,000 for the implementation of the Lead Service Identification/Replacement program. The United States has around nine million homes that get their water through lead pipes. The health risks from lead exposure in water are well known. In children, lead can severely harm mental and physical development, slow down learning and irreversibly damage the brain. In adults, lead can cause increased blood pressure, heart disease, decreased kidney function and cancer. The US Congress banned the use of lead pipes for drinking water in 1986, but previously installed pipes were allowed to remain until the passage of the 2024 Lead and Copper Rule.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has mandated that every water system in the United States must identify the material that each water service is made of, from the water-main to the home or business. Any water service that is made of an unknown material, is considered to be lead until proven otherwise. These services will need to be excavated, visually inspected, and replaced if necessary. Seabrook has over 4,000 water services in place, some of which date back to the 1950’s.

Both Warrant Article 5 and Warrant Article 6 will be funded by the issuance of bonds or notes. Bond payments would come from water rates, and have no impact on the tax rate.

Both Warrant Article #5 and Warrant Article #6 also authorize the Board of Selectmen to apply for, contract for, accept and expend any Federal, State or other available aid or funds. One possible source of funding is the NH DES State Revolving Fund. This fund is funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Potential Federal funding for these projects include $15 billion in dedicated funding for lead pipe replacement, through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. There is an additional $11.7 billion available that can be used for both drinking water projects and lead pipe replacement.

The text of Warrant Articles #5 and #6 are below

ARTICLE 5 – SEABROOK WATER – UPGRADES TO THE WATER SYSTEM

To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Eight Million Six-Hundred Thousand Dollars ($8,600,000.00) for the purpose of upgrades to the water system, including developing existing water sources, and infrastructure for connecting municipal water sources to the water treatment facility and upgrading the water treatment facility controls and treatment systems, and to authorize the issuance of not more than Eight Million Six-Hundred Thousand Dollars ($8,600,000.00) of bonds or notes in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Finance Act (RSA 33 as amended) and to authorize the Board of Selectmen to issue, negotiate, sell and deliver such bonds or notes and to determine the rate of interest thereon and the maturity and other terms thereof. Further, to authorize the Board of Selectmen to apply for, contract for, accept and expend any Federal, State or other available aid or funds, including, but not limited to, from the State Revolving Fund, toward the project that may be available, according to the terms under which they are received, and to borrow in anticipation of the receipt of such aid or the issuance of such bonds or notes as provided by the Municipal Finance Act, (RSA 33 as amended); and to authorize the Board of Selectmen to take any and all actions as may be necessary to carry out the project in the best interests of the Town of Seabrook. Notwithstanding the general obligation nature of the bonds or notes, it is the intention of the Town of Seabrook that debt service will be repaid through the Water Enterprise. (3/5th vote required) (Recommended by the Board of Selectmen) (Recommended by the Budget Committee).

NOTE: This project will provide funds to permit 5 new wells on Stard and Weare Road, design and build infrastructure to connect sources to the water treatment facility, upgrade controls and treatment systems to treat new sources. The Bond will be a general obligation of the Town but it is intended that Bond payments would come from water rates and have no impact on tax rate.

ARTICLE 6 – SEABROOK WATER – IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LEAD SERVICE IDENTIFICATION / REPLACEMENT PROGRAM

To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of One Million Two-Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,200,000.00) for the purpose of implementation of the Lead Service Identification/Replacement program, a federal/EPA mandate that requires identification of the material of each water service in the Town, and to authorize the issuance of not more than One Million Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,200,000.00) of bonds or notes in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Finance Act (RSA 33 as amended) and to authorize the Board of Selectmen to issue, negotiate, sell and deliver such bonds or notes and to determine the rate of interest thereon and the maturity and other terms thereof. Further, to authorize the Board of Selectmen to apply for, contract for, accept and expend any Federal, State or other available aid or funds, including, but not limited to, from the State Revolving Fund, toward the project that may be available, according to the terms under which they are received, and to borrow in anticipation of the receipt of such aid or the issuance of such bonds or notes as provided by the Municipal Finance Act, (RSA 33 as amended); and to authorize the Board of Selectmen to take any and all actions as may be necessary to carry out the project in the best interests of the Town. Notwithstanding the general obligation nature of the bonds or notes, it is the intention of the Town that debt service will be repaid through the Water Enterprise. (3/5th vote required) (Recommended by the Board of Selectmen) (Recommended by the Budget Committee).

NOTE: This project will provide funds for the implementation of the Lead Service Identification/Replacement program. The EPA has mandated that every water system in the United States must identify the material that each water service is made of from the water-main to the home or business. Any water service that is an unknown material is considered to be lead and will need to be excavated and visually inspected and possibly replaced. Seabrook has over 4000 services with some dating back to the 1950’s. The Bond will be a general obligation of the Town but it is intended that Bond payments would come from water