Brunswick / Topsham Water District

Lead in Home Plumbing: If present, elevated lead levels can cause serious health concerns, especially for pregnant women and young children. Lead in tap water primarily comes from materials and components in service lines and home plumbing systems. While we're committed to providing high-quality municipal water, we cannot control the materials used in household plumbing components.

When your water has been sitting for several hours, you can minimize lead exposure by flushing your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using water for consumption or cooking. If concerned about lead, consider having your water tested. Information about lead in water, testing methods, and exposure reduction steps is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline or at www.epa.gov/lead.

Potential Contaminants in Water

To ensure tap water safety, the U.S. EPA establishes regulations limiting contaminant levels in public water systems. FDA regulations set similar limits for bottled water to protect public health. All drinking water, including bottled varieties, may reasonably contain at least small amounts of some contaminants, though this doesn't necessarily indicate a health risk.

Water sources (both tap and bottled) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels across land or underground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals, sometimes radioactive materials, and substances from animal presence or human activity.

Common Water Contaminant Categories:

• Microbial Contaminants: Viruses and bacteria from sewage treatment facilities, septic systems, agricultural operations, or wildlife
• Inorganic Contaminants: Salts and metals occurring naturally or resulting from urban runoff, industrial/domestic wastewater, oil/gas production, mining, or farming
• Pesticides and Herbicides: From agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential usage
• Organic Chemical Contaminants: Synthetic and volatile organic compounds from industrial processes, petroleum production, gas stations, runoff, and septic systems
• Radioactive Contaminants: Naturally occurring or resulting from oil/gas production and mining activities

For more information about contaminants and potential health effects, call the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791.

Our Water Treatment Process

At all supply sources, we add sodium hypochlorite (chlorine) to protect against bacteria and fluoride for dental health. We also add phosphate compounds to prevent corrosion in distribution pipes and reduce lead/copper leaching from household plumbing. Water from Jackson and Taylor wells undergoes filtration to remove iron and manganese from natural deposits in the sand and gravel aquifer. We adjust pH levels at the Jordan Avenue well field through oxygenation to reduce water corrosivity.

Our Commitment to Quality

Delivering premium municipal water involves complex treatment processes and expert oversight. Our licensed operators undergo rigorous training in mathematics, biology, chemistry, and physics. Their daily responsibilities include equipment operation/maintenance, monitoring, testing, chemistry management, regulatory compliance, and community education. When you turn on your tap, remember the dedicated professionals ensuring every drop meets quality standards.

Upcoming Infrastructure Projects

The Jackson Station in Topsham, our largest supply source and operations headquarters built in 1971, has aging structural, electrical, and mechanical systems requiring replacement. Following a 2012 facility assessment, we began planning for replacement by 2025. In 2015, we identified increasing disinfection by-product (DBP) levels, which form when chlorine combines with natural organic matter. Though operational adjustments maintain levels below EPA limits, we began evaluating treatment options in 2016, with pilot testing in 2017 and design development in 2019. Construction is anticipated in 2020-2021, with estimated costs between $20-25M. These essential upgrades will ensure continued safe water delivery to our community.

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