News in brief WARREN: AQUA MAINE ANNOUNCES NEW WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM

Aqua Maine Inc. announced Monday that a new $260,000 groundwater treatment facility and well are up and running, serving its 250 public water customers in the town’s village area. The new treatment facility will allow the company to maintain compliance with the new, more stringent regulation for arsenic, which becomes effective Jan. 23, 2006. It also will reduce iron levels, which although not a public health issue have caused occasional discoloration. Both iron and arsenic occur naturally in the bedrock. Construction of the new facility began last spring, and the system became operational earlier this month. Funding was through a low interest loan under the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. As part of the overall system upgrade, a new bedrock well was drilled to supplement existing wells and provide additional capacity. These recent treatment and source upgrades complement the $485,000 replacement of more than 5,800 feet of the original pipe distribution system completed in 2003 and 2004. The Warren village system is part of Aqua Maine’s Camden & Rockland Division, which serves 7,600 customers in Camden, Rockport, Rockland, Thomaston, Owls Head, Union and Warren, and is one of 20 Maine water systems owned or operated by Aqua Maine.