Water & Sewer Department

Click below to make a water and sewer payment: Water and Sewer Payments

Quarterly Rate Charges

January, April, July, October

Water

The quarterly meter and billing charge is $5.90. The water rate is $6.17 per 100 cubic feet (750 gallons).
Quarterly Minimum Charge for Water based on 0 to 1200 cubic feet usage is $79.93.

Sewer

The Sewer rate is $9.77 per 100 cubic feet based on 80% water meter flow.
Quarterly Minimum Charge for Sewer based on 0 to 1200 cubic feet usage is $100.66.

The owner of the property is ultimately responsible for the water & sewer bill. Any arrangements for payment with tenants are between tenants and the property owner only, not the Water & Sewer Department.

If there is a water leak or other problem, please contact the Water & Sewer Department for assistance.

Please remember that you are responsible for any repairs made on your water & sewer service over its entire length from your property line to your water meter, as well as inside your home or building.

Contact the Water & Sewer Department for information on other Rules, Regulations, and Policy Matters.

Backflow Prevention Program

The purpose of the Backflow Prevention Program is to ensure that there is no possible contamination of your drinking water due to improper plumbing interconnections. Examples of potential cross connections are commercial and residential boilers, clothing washing machines, and automatic dishwashing machines. The backflow device is a mechanical valve that senses a flow reversal and stops possibly harmful water from mixing with the drinking water.

The program is mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the N.H. Department of Environmental Services. There are presently 1052 commercial and residential backflow devices in the Gorham water system.

All commercial and industrial buildings require testable backflow devices. These devices are owned and maintained by the property owner and testing is performed by our certified backflow testers. Reduced Pressure Zone backflow devices are tested bi-annually and all dual check devices are tested annually. A fee of $75.00 is charged for each testing service. There are a total of 83 commercial backflows in the Gorham water system.

Scheduled appointments for the testing are usually not necessary, since commercial properties are tested during normal business hours.

The Gorham Water & Sewer Departments Backflow Prevention Program is another example of the effort taken to ensure that your drinking water is of the highest quality and safe for consumption. If you have any questions or concerns about your backflow device, please call our office.

Pollution Control Project

Pollution Control Project: Aeration System Upgrade

Water & Sewer Department Overview

Staff Contacts

Jeff Tennis — Superintendent
Jessica Jacques — Office Manager
Kurt Johnson — Chief Operator at WWTF
Brian Rivard — Assistant Chief Operator
Greg Bilodeau — Laborer
Aaron Labonville — Laborer
Jeremiah Vallie — Laborer

Address & Contact Information

Address: 8 Main Street, Gorham, NH 03581
Phone: (603) 466-3302
Fax: (603) 466-9808

Hours of Operation:

Monday–Thursday: 7:00 am to 12:00 pm, 12:30pm to 3:30 pm
Friday: 7:00 am to 12:00 pm, 12:30pm to 2:30 pm

Lead & Copper Rule Revision

ATTENTION TOWN OF GORHAM RESIDENTS: USEPA HAS IMPLEMENTED A FEDERAL DRINKING WATER RULE. THIS RULE REVISES, UPDATES AND IMPROVES UPON THE ORIGINAL LEAD AND COPPER RULE (LCRR) OF 1991.

Lead Service Line Inventory, Replacement and Sampling Plans.

LCRR require all community water systems and non-transient non-community water systems to develop and submit to NHDES an inventory of service line materials and a proposed replacement plan for any lead and galvanized piping, for both utility and customer-owned sections. Each water system whose inventory has lead and/or galvanized piping is required to submit annual updates to NHDES. Based on the inventory results, new sampling sites must be proposed to prioritize sampling at services with lead components.

Gorham Water System’s and Gorham Hill Spring inventory can be found below.

Helping public water systems to comply with the EPA Lead and Copper Rule and its 2021 revisions.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) in 1991 to protect public health and reduce exposure to lead in drinking water. That rule has been revised effective December 16, 2021, to include several new actions to better protect the public against the harmful effects of lead.

The Lead and Copper Rule Revision (LCRR) from 2021 includes several new requirements, the most pressing one being requiring lead service line inventories. All community (CWS) and non-transient, non-community (NTNC) water systems are required to create an inventory of their service lines throughout their distribution systems, paying special attention to any lead service lines that will need to be replaced. CWS and NTNC are required to submit a service line inventory to NHDES by the federal deadline of October 16, 2024.

The Gorham Water & Sewer Department worked diligently to identify all lines throughout the Town before the deadline but unfortunately there are still quite a few unknowns. You may receive a letter in the mail from us regarding this.

For more information, please use the links below from both NHDES and USEPA or contact the office with any questions.

NH DES Lead & Copper

EPA Revised Lead & Copper Rule

Additional Resources

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