The approximately 1,000 customers of the Washburn Water & Sewer District are now using water from a newly-drilled well that should last a generation.
The Washburn Water & Sewer District recently completed its switch to a new water well, officially as of Oct. 25. The district’s former well opened in 1993, and had been decreasing its capacity over the last five years, said Matt Palmer, the district’s director of operations.
With the district serving about two-thirds of Washburn’s population, “we wanted to make sure we didn’t run out of water,” Palmer said.
The district hired the engineering firm Olver Associates of Winterport to help plan for a new one, and design and secure a funding package for the new well, which cost $252,000. About $101,000 of that was obtained through a grant from the Maine Municipal Bond Bank, a 1 percent interest rate, with the district and customers covering the rest.
The new well is about 150 feet up the road from the old well, also on Hilt Street on the west side of the Salmon Brook.
Tapping into a sand and gravel aquifer, the 40-foot well is expected to last at least 25 years, Palmer said.
