NORWAY — The Norway Water District has been awarded a $437,000 low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to replace 115-year-old cast iron water mains.

Water mains that were installed in 1886 will be replaced in conjunction with a major sewer line project that gets under way this summer, according to District General Manager Ryan Lippincott.

The project will replace mains on Fair, Winter and Cottage streets. Cottage Street will be the first water main to be replaced later this summer. The others will be done next year, Lippincott said.

The Sewer Department is replacing near-century-old sewer lines in a $1.5 million project that is being largely funded through a Maine Rural Development grant. The plans are to replace more than 1,000 feet of sewer pipes on Fair, Paris, Whitman, Cottage, Pine, Oak and King streets that were installed in 1913.

Norway has one of the oldest sewer systems in the state, said Wastewater Department Superintendent Shawn Brown. Work has been ongoing since 1992 to address the old lines including those on Beal and Water streets that were replaced about five or six years ago.

Both projects will address sewer and water lines that provide service to the Stephens Memorial Hospital in addition to businesses and residences in the area.

“We don’t have to pay for paving,” said Lippincott of the additional costs to the water district if it had done the project on its own. Both projects are also using the same engineering firm, Pine Engineering, which put together the specifications for the bids.

The new water mains will be lined with cement, he said.

The Water District grant is funded by the Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program.

Virginia Manuel, state director for the USDA Rural Development, said in a statement, “We are extremely pleased to have worked with the Norway Water District to secure a $437,000 low interest loan from Rural Development which will fund new water mains ensuring safe drinking water and the relocation of a fire hydrant serving the local hospital. Funding these types of infrastructure improvements in Maine’s rural communities only contributes to their prosperity and sustainability, an important goal of USDA Rural Development.”

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