Water Infrastructure Funding

Stories

What NHDES funding is doing across the state, one kind of work at a time. Each story lights its projects on the map of New Hampshire's rivers.

Map of New Hampshire with the 19 projects in this story lit

PFAS in drinking water

19 projects · $47.7 million · 14 communities

Treatment, new sources, connections to public water and the planning behind them, for wells and small water systems where PFAS was found.

A woman fills a small sample bottle from a spigot on the side of a house
Taking a water sample from an outdoor spigot
A woman in a green fleece holds up a sample bottle beside a sink
An NHDES staff member sampling tap water
Two workers in safety vests run a green drill rig in the woods
Drilling for soil samples
A worker in a safety vest lowers a gauge into a monitoring well on an airfield, a cargo plane behind
Monitoring groundwater at the former Pease Air Force Base Photo by U.S. Air Force
A long aisle of treatment vessels and overhead piping inside a building
Groundwater treatment at Pease Photo by U.S. Air Force
Two filter tanks and blue cartridge housings mounted on a basement wall
A treatment system installed in a home Photo by Secondwind
Two workers lay blue water pipe in a long trench beside a sidewalk
Extending public water to homes with affected wells
Three people in waders and life vests carry nets across a rocky river
Collecting fish to test for PFAS
People with buckets dig for shellfish on a rocky mudflat at low tide
Shellfish sampling in the Great Bay Estuary
A speaker at the front of a full hall with a projected slide behind him
A public meeting during New Hampshire's PFAS response

The Century Community Association will use $688,000 in grant funding to interconnect with a larger public water system to address PFAS contamination above NH drinking water standards present within the blended sources of drinking water.

Largest commitments

  1. November 2022 MerrimackPFAS Remediation · Merrimack Village District $12.6M
  2. November 2023 JaffreyDrinking Water Construction $11.6M
  3. March 2023 DerryDrinking Water Infrastructure $6.1M
  4. June 2022 DoverWater Facility Improvements $5.2M
  5. July 2026 NewfieldsDrinking Water Construction · Newfields Water & Sewer $2.9M

All 19 on the map

Map of New Hampshire with the 20 projects in this story lit

Community-owned housing

20 projects · $20.3 million · 16 communities

Resident-owned mobile home cooperatives and condominium associations applied for ARPA grants for their own water and wastewater systems.

NHDES, through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) funds has offered Mountain View Housing Cooperative $1,000,000 for drinking water improvements and $283,500 for wastewater improvements. Drinking water improvements funded by ARPA and the DWGTF will include development of an additional water source, replacement of the well house, construction of an atmospheric storage tank, upgrades to the electrical system, addition of variable frequency drive (VFD) booster pumps, installation of a treatment system to meet the future manganese maximum contaminant level (MCL), and upgrades to the water distribution system. Wastewater improvements funded by ARPA only will include cleaning and closed circuit television (CCTV) review of the sewer lines. Sewer manholes will be upgraded, and spot repair, service connection or pipe replacement may be completed.

Largest commitments

  1. June 2022 HoldernessDrinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Improvements · Town Line Village Cooperative, Inc, Holderness $2M
  2. November 2022 ExeterDrinking Water & Wastewater Improvements · Exeter River Cooperative, Inc. $2M
  3. July 2022 CanaanClean Water Infrastructure and Wastewater Improvements · Mascoma Valley Cooperative, Inc., Canaan $2M
  4. May 2022 NorthwoodWastewater Planning Grant · Loon Estates Cooperative $1.9M
  5. November 2022 AllenstownDrinking Water & Wastewater Improvements · Catamount Hill Cooperative, Inc. $1.7M

All 20 on the map

Map of New Hampshire with the 30 projects in this story lit

Treatment plants

30 projects · $92.9 million · 25 communities

Clarifiers, lagoons, filters and plant upgrades that keep treatment running as flows and standards change.

A railed walkway crossing a covered clarifier under a radial wooden dome
A wastewater clarifier under its wooden dome
Open filter channels of water inside a treatment station
Filter station, Wolfeboro

The Town will use grant funds to design and construct the rehabilitation/replacement of Water Treatment Plant (WTP) components that are at the end of their useful life. This includes the complete rehabilitation of the two Trident filter treatment units. Additionally, the project will evaluate other WTP equipment identified in the asset management that are nearing the end of their useful life including the replacement at the Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV) Station and equipment at the South Main Street Tank located. Scheduled SCADA equipment replacement and upgrades will be incorporated into the project. Grant funds will be used in conjunction with New Hampshire Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) loan funds to complete the engineering, design, bidding and construction for the project.

Largest commitments

  1. October 2022 HamptonClean Water Planning & Infrastructure $15.8M
  2. November 2022 MerrimackPFAS Remediation · Merrimack Village District $12.6M
  3. November 2023 JaffreyDrinking Water Construction $11.6M
  4. September 2022 TiltonWastewater Infrastructure · Tilton-Northfield Water District $6.5M
  5. June 2022 DoverWater Facility Improvements $5.2M

All 30 on the map

Map of New Hampshire with the 28 projects in this story lit

Dams, culverts and floods

28 projects · $19.7 million · 25 communities

Dam repairs, culvert replacements, flood studies and stormwater projects that help communities handle high water.

ARPA Grant ($1,000,000) will be used to rehabilitate Upper Wilson Pond Dam, a High Hazard Dam, in accordance with current dam safety requirements. Grant funds will be used for costs associated with engineering and construction.

Largest commitments

  1. January 2023 DurhamStormwater Infrastructure $6M
  2. January 2023 PortsmouthClean Water Infrastructure $2.2M
  3. November 2022 SeabrookCritical Flood Risk Infrastructure $1.1M
  4. February 2023 GoffstownDam Infrastructure · Goffstown Village Precinct $1M
  5. May 2023 SalemDam Infrastructure $1M

All 28 on the map

Map of New Hampshire with the 63 projects in this story lit

ARPA combined with other programs

63 projects · $187.3 million · 41 communities

Many systems combined an ARPA grant with State Revolving Fund, PFAS loan fund or Trust Fund money to pay for a larger project.

Two men stand looking over screening equipment and red valves inside a treatment facility
Inside Jaffrey's wastewater treatment facility

The Town of Enfield is receiving $1.33 million from the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund and a $575,000 ARPA grant ($1.9 million total project cost) to make water system improvements including the replacement of approximately 15,340 linear feet of distribution water main and develop a new well source at the Marsh well site to remedy deficiencies in the current water system. This will address water supply quality, quantity and reliability issues.

Largest commitments

  1. October 2022 HamptonClean Water Planning & Infrastructure $15.8M
  2. November 2022 MerrimackPFAS Remediation · Merrimack Village District $12.6M
  3. November 2023 JaffreyDrinking Water Construction $11.6M
  4. October 2022 MerrimackClean Water Infrastructure $10.1M
  5. September 2022 TiltonWastewater Infrastructure · Tilton-Northfield Water District $6.5M

All 63 on the map

Map of New Hampshire with the 73 projects in this story lit

Planning, asset management and cybersecurity

73 projects · $8 million · 51 communities

ARPA funds have been granted for developing, improving or implementing asset management programs for drinking water, wastewater collection and stormwater systems.

Inventories, capital plans, energy audits and cybersecurity upgrades: the groundwork that decides what gets built next.

Largest commitments

  1. May 2022 NorthwoodWastewater Planning Grant · Loon Estates Cooperative $1.9M
  2. October 2022 SwanzeyClean Water (Stormwater) Infrastructure & Planning $313K
  3. May 2023 GorhamSustainability $250K
  4. May 2022 LincolnClean Water Energy Audit Measures Implementation $215K
  5. 2022 PortsmouthClean Water Sustainability Asset Management Program $210K

All 73 on the map