BANGOR, Maine — Under Bangor’s city streets, 200 miles of pipe carry water into homes and businesses, but nearly 30 percent of those pipes are more than a century old and at risk of failing.
Some of those pipes date back 140 years, to the founding of Bangor’s water system.
“To replace this by today would cost $60 million, so that’s an enormous problem,” Kathy Moriarty, Bangor Water District’s general manager, told Bangor city councilors before Monday night’s regular council meeting.
The district says it can’t catch up with the backlog with its current rates, which are among the lowest in the state.
Moriarty said the district wants to increase its rate by 4.5 percent effective July 1.
For the average residential customer, the rate would increase by 88 cents per month, bumping their monthly cost to $20.34, according to the district. For a customer who pays the minimum bill, the rates would increase by 55 cents per month, to about $12.70.
With this increase, Bangor’s water bills would still be among the lowest in the state — the 20th cheapest among 152 water utilities in Maine, Moriarty told the council. The district increased rates last year for the first time since 2011 in order to start chipping away at infrastructure replacement projects.
In 2015, the district spent more than $1 million replacing a mile of pipe, including 1,650 feet on Union Street during the road reconstruction project, 2,482 feet connecting Garland and State streets, and 1,280 feet of pipe installed in 1911 on First and Davis streets.
The district says it needs to bring in more revenue through a rate increase if it wants to start replacing its 200 miles of pipe at a better pace than a mile per year.
This construction season, the district will increase its efforts, pushing to replace 1.4 miles of pipes, including some on busy stretches of road, at an estimated cost of more than $2 million.
In April, the district hopes to start replacing nearly 2,000 feet of pipe under downtown’s Hammond Street that dates back to 1897. At the same time, the district wants to replace 2,200 feet on Union Street from the Interstate 95 junction to Vermont Avenue.
Pipes along one of the busiest stretches of road in the city — Broadway from Center Street to Husson University — also will be replaced. That pipe was installed in 1915.
“It will be a challenging summer,” Moriarty said, adding that the district has notified residents who will be affected by the pipe replacements and hopes to spread the word among motorists.
The district also plans a major infrastructure upgrade outside city limits.
Bangor draws its water from Floods Pond in Otis. The pump station there is responsible for bringing water to the city, but the facility hasn’t been updated in nearly 60 years, according to Moriarty. The district plans to invest $4 million in the facility this year, installing new pumps, electrical equipment, intake screens and completing renovations that will allow the district to partially shut down portions of the plant to allow maintenance on other parts.
The water district will host a public hearing on the proposed rate increase at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 12, in City Council chambers. After that, the district expects to request a rate increase approval from the Maine Public Utilities Commission.
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