A new, 30,000-gallon water tank above Northern Springs Mobile Home Park off Poland Corner Road is now the source of drinking water for the 39 park’s residences. The nearly $650,000 project involved extending a water line 2,500 feet from the Poland Fire and Rescue Department.
POLAND — Clean, uranium-free water should be available to residents of Northern Springs Mobile Park off Poland Corner Road by this weekend.
The water will come from a 30,000-gallon tank above the park, the result of a nearly $650,000 project to extend a Mechanic Falls Water Department line about 2,500 feet from the Poland Fire and Rescue Department on Poland Corner Road.
Another $100,000 will pay to bring the water to the park’s 39 residences.
Steve French, superintendent of the Mechanic Falls Water Department, is conducting final tests on the tank this week.
Park owner Orrin Welch told Poland selectpersons in January 2018 there was an excessive amount of uranium in the park’s well. He said two uranium filters are replaced every two years at the cost of several thousand dollars each.
Welch got approval to apply for a Community Development Block Grant to pay for a new water source.
The undertaking involved several state and federal agencies, including Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, Maine Department of Human Services, Maine Municipal Bank, Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency, and Pine Tree Engineering of Bath and Douglas W. Jones of Cross Excavation of Bethel.
Michelle Emery, office manager for the Mechanic Falls Water Department, said she took a two-day course to learn how to fill out the government forms and started the paperwork in November 2018.
The Poland Planning Board approved the project design by Robert Prue of Pine Tree Engineering in February.
French said the work began in August, with the most difficult task running pipe 12 feet under a section of Lower Range Pond, which runs underneath Poland Corner Road. That section of Poland Corner Road will be paved next year.
The Mechanic Falls Water Department is responsible for maintaining the pipe and tank.
“Hopefully the grass will be growing (around the tank) in the spring, then it’s over,” he said.
The plan also included installing two fire hydrants on Poland Corner Road, one by Welch Lane and the second by Plains Road. Poland will rent each from the Water Department for $93.75 a month, the same price the town of Mechanic Falls pays.
French said the water line extension will provide water to other parts of Poland.
He said the Water Department paid $20,000 upfront, but that amount should be recouped in the first year.
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