In 2018, the Sanbornville Water Precinct serving 400 customers was nearing financial and operational failure, and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services was preparing to take over operation and management of the system. Fortunately, three community-minded citizens stepped up to serve as Commissioners and guide the fledgling system to sustainability. Horizons Engineering was hired as their engineer. During an 18-month period we worked with the Commissioners to obtain funding from USDA for a Preliminary Engineering Report to prioritize the numerous improvements – the Community has 7 miles of 1939 steel pipe that is so badly corroded, repairs are made on top of repairs to keep the system in water. We are also working on an Asset Management Program to help them plan for future sustainability – we helped them receive $30,000 in NHDES SRF funds for this project.
In addition, due to the critical nature of their system, we received emergency funding from both the NHDES Drinking Water Trust Fund and Community Development Block Grant for a $600,000 project to create a loop and alleviate water outages due to pipe breaks. The funding was approved in July 2019 and this project was constructed in 2020. We helped the Precinct with a $3,600,000 NHDES SRF and a $1,000,000 NBRC application that has been approved and was ranked second on the project priority list. With the completion of the Preliminary Engineering Report, we assisted the community in applying for funds to the USDA Rural Development Water and Environmental Program. Last year, Sanbornville was recommended for funding by the Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund for $100,000 in order to proceed with a hydrogeological investigation to develop a new water source. We are currently ready to construct the first phase of this $5.6M water improvement project. Phase II has received an additional $2.1 Million from ARPA and AWTF, design will begin in Spring 2022.
This type of project is successful because of Horizons technical knowledge but also because of our ability to build the partnerships and trust with the funder, NHDES and the Client.
