More than $7.2 million awarded for drinking water, wastewater and other projects

Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) announced today that Governor Chris Sununu and the Executive Council, at recent meetings, have approved multiple projects, in a combination of grant and loan funds, for needed drinking water and wastewater system improvements, totaling more than $7.2 million. NHDES provided the funding through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF). NHDES has offered over $100 million in funding for more than 200 projects, which are in the process of finalizing their proposals to NHDES for submission to the Governor and Executive Council for approval. More information about the projects that have been approved is below:

Dover: Water Facility Improvements - $5,188,000 ARPA grant

• ARPA Grant: $5,188,000
• Total project cost: $17,290,213

The City of Dover will use the grant funding as administered through the Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Remediation Grant and Loan Fund (PFAS RLF) to assist with the construction of a new treatment facility to remediate PFAS, as well as other contaminants, within groundwater at the Pudding Hill well field. The project includes design, bidding, construction and engineering oversight of the construction.

Londonderry: Water System Financial Planning - $50,000 ARPA Grant

The Town of Londonderry will use this ARPA grant to develop a water system financial plan to assess the feasibility of development of the public water system for the Town with the purpose of expanding public water service to address widespread PFAS contamination of private residential wells. This planning project is strategically important to New Hampshire due to the large number of private residential well users in Londonderry with concentrations of PFAS above the applicable current maximum contaminant level (MCL).

Process Energy Services, LLC: Contract for Wastewater and Drinking Water Energy Audits - $500,000 ARPA grant

Process Energy Services, LLC will use the grant funding to conduct comprehensive process level energy audits at publicly owned wastewater and drinking water systems to identify cost-effective energy efficiency and renewable energy measures within the systems. When possible, the measures identified through the energy audits will be paired with asset management-identified improvements to prioritize projects more holistically. 

Wolfeboro: Drinking Water Infrastructure - $735,000 ARPA grant; $735,000 DWSRF loan

• ARPA Grant: $735,000
• DWSRF Loan: $735,000
• Total project cost: $1,480,000

The Town of Wolfeboro will use grant funding to design and construct the rehabilitation and replacement of Water Treatment Plant (WTP) components that are at the end of their useful life. Grant funds will be used in conjunction with DWSRF loan funds to complete the engineering, design, bidding and construction for the project.

Background:
ARPA is a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill to speed up the United States’ recovery from the economic health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant recession. The Act defines eligible uses of the state and local funding, including responding to public health emergencies, responding to workers performing essential work during the COVID-19 emergency, providing revenue relief to states and making investments in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure. 

For more information regarding infrastructure funding programs such as ARPA and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) being administered by NHDES, visit the NHDES Infrastructure Funding website.

For more information, please contact Erin Holmes, NHDES at Erin.L.Holmes@des.nh.gov or (603) 848-4259.