TREMONT — Contaminated wells are costing the town money and the fix recommended by the state would be a major expense for taxpayers.
“We have installed six [water filtration] systems at the town’s expense in the last year,” Town Manager Chris Saunders said in an interview.
“There’s just not good water in the area.” Those water filtration systems are one solution to the problem with contaminated water that has plagued the town for a decade.
In 2008, the DEP tested 14 private wells in the neighborhood of Flat Iron Road and Harbor Drive.
The DEP’s Maine Landfill Closure and Remediation Program helped the town with the cost of the bottled water program until 2016.
A water filtration system was installed at the Town Office within the last month and came with a price tag of approximately $12,000, Saunders said.
Qualifying test results receive 90 percent funding reimbursement from the DEP’s remediation program for water filtration systems.
When contaminants were found in the Town Office water supply, the state determined it did not qualify for remediation funding.
The state program only reimburses for landfill contamination.” In the early months of 2017, the DEP concluded that the town’s storage of salt and its use on winter roads was contributing to the contamination of area wells.
Cost of the water filtration systems depends on several factors, including level of use, water quality and the size of the system.