The town of Hanover may be spending $7.7 million to renovate its water system to improve water quality and flow conditions. The proposed project will require replacing pipes that date back more than 100 years.
The proposed upgrades include replacing almost 25,000 feet of water mains with wider pipes, constructing an 800,000-gallon storage tank and installing almost 1,500 new water meters.
The Hanover Water Works Co., a company jointly owned by the College and the town of Hanover, hired the consultant Dufresne-Henry, Inc, which recommended the renovations due to the age of current facilities which violate current fire standards.
Fire regulations mandate fighting fires with treated water, but currently some of the old pipes are too small to put out fires effectively, President of Hanover Water Works Jack Nelson said.
To ensure effective fire-fighting, Nelson said the company is thinking of "alternate sources such as well water," and as the proposed 800,000-gallon storage tank to fight fires in the case of an emergency.
Richard Menge, senior project manager at Dufresne-Henry, Inc., said the proposal is also designed to improve water flow conditions as well as improve the taste and smell of the water.
Nelson said the strange taste in drinking water is from iron or sediment which make the water "fishy, yellow or brown ... but nothing that would hurt people."
Hanover Water Works has applied for grants from the federal government to finance the proposed upgrades, Nelson said.
If the company receives these funds, improvements could start as early as this summer, Nelson said.
