About the Orono-Veazie Water District

Our Staff

Dennis Cross Superintendent	Michelle Poole Administrative Assistant	Jeff Spinney • Boyd Smith • Dave Eugley Service Crew

Board of Trustees

Orono	Term Expires	Veazie	Term Expires
John J. McCormack, Chair	Dec 31, 2009	Ken Borneman	Dec 31, 2012
Stephen Murray, Clerk	Dec 31, 2010	James Parker	Dec 31, 2011
Scott Hall	Dec 31, 2013

Our History

Below is a timeline that looks back at the events leading up to the creation of the new water treatment plant and water delivery system for the towns of Orono and Veazie. Since completion of these projects in 1995 we have been supplying good water consistently to homes and businesses in our water district.

December 1976

The Orono-Veazie Water District was established to take over operation of the town's water supply from a private water company. The OVWD elected to continue purchasing water from the Bangor Water District as its primary water source. On occasions when supply from Bangor did not met demand, water from a Bennoch Road well field owned by the OVWD was mixed with the Bangor water to supplement supply.

1977

A.E. Hodsdon Engineers was retained by the District to determine what areas of the water system needed to be repaired or replaced. The report showed one major need was to replace the standpipe on Forest Avenue in Orono built in 1905. During this year a new 1.6 million gallon tank was constructed.

1978-1990

The district continued to replace water mains and services annually as a result of the study in 1977. One major area of improvement during these years was the replacement of many of the older fire hydrants.

November 1991

Bangor Water District notified OVWD that its available water would be significantly reduced and suggested that OVWD explore alternative water sources. The notification came as the Bangor Water District is forced to reduce the amount of water it drew from its main source, Flood's Pond in Otis, due to the limits imposed to protect the Sunapee Char, a fish native to the pond that was thought to be endangered.

June 1992

The OVWD contracted with Weston & Sampson, a Massachusetts firm specializing in water supplies, to research possible water sources in the area for their suitability.

March 1993

Weston & Sampson recommended that the most economically feasible way to develop a new water supply for the towns of Orono and Veazie was to re-establish and expand the existing Bennoch Road well field. OVWD moved ahead to develop this new water supply by drilling new wells, building pump houses and standpipes, and designing a new water treatment facility.

1994

The Orono-Veazie Water District notified the Bangor Water District that it will develop its own water supply and treatment facility and will no longer purchase its water from Bangor. Designs were approved for a new Orono-Veazie water treatment plant designed to handle up 2.5 million gallons per day.

1995

The first tests were run through the new treatment facility to check for water quality and other critical system performance indicators. The new plant was brought online and treated water from the Bennoch Road well field is delivered to Orono and Veazie consumers for the first time.

A third well and well house was also completed this year.

1996

Construction was scheduled for a new standpipe on Buck Hill in Veazie. With these improvements the OVWD would have sufficient water storage, treatment, and delivery capacity in place to meet existing and projected water needs.

1997

A major improvement during this year was the replacement of a pipe that crosses the river. The pipe that goes across Webster Park to the Town side of the river had been abandon by the former company in the early seventies because of major leaks. The replacement of this main to Webster Island provides better fire flows and redundancy to the homes, businesses and the University of Maine.

1998

Radio read meters began to be installed in the system. These meters provide more accuracy by removing human error and reduce labor. The data is collected by driving by the customers location and then simply down loaded into the computer for billing.

1999-2007

The District continued to replace and upgrade some of its aging infrastructure.

2008

Weston & Sampson has again been retained by the District to review the water treatment facility. The filter media is approaching its life expectancy and changing regulatory requirements demand some changes at our water source.