Project Resources
Related Websites
- Energy Efficiency for Rural Water Supplies - Operator Education
- Energy Efficiency for Rural Water Supplies - Municipal Planning
- Lake Sunapee Protective Association Intrastructure Project
- Granite State Rural Water Association
- Innovative Land Use Planning Techniques Handbook - Template Ordinances
- NH Homeland Security & Emergency Managment
- US EPA Water Sense
- Report: Land Conservation and the Future of America's Drinking Water, Protecting the Source
UVLSRPC Projects
Project Administrator:
Christine Walker
Project Title:
Energy Efficiency for Rural Water Supplies
Related Services:
Energy, Land Use Planning, Natural Resources, Emergency Management
Project Summary:
Public water systems are diverse in their size, needs and complexity. Significant work has been done influencing large, typically urban water systems that serve larger populations. Rural systems have received less direct attention because of their small size and the perception that improvements will have limited impact in the larger, national energy efficiency initiative. This region contains 35 public water systems serving 46,358 residents. According to the EPA about 20% of the treated drinking water is lost to leakages in existing pipe networks. This is significant energy efficiency issue as the demand for electricity to pump water increases when leaks are present to either meet demand or maintain adequate operational pressures in the distribution network to compensate for the 20% that is lost.
The Commission will be creating an educational forum that establishes a Supplier Network The initiative will provide opportunities to share knowledge of how systems work and resolve issues on a day to day basis.The project will also work with municipal leaders through facilitating joint municipal meetings in the Lake Sunapee watershed to address water supply and energy efficiency issues from the perspective of the municipal leaders.
The Commission will work with the towns of New London, Newbury, Springfield and Sunapee to leverage the recently completed Lake Sunapee Watershed Infrastructure Project, a NOAA-funded, comprehensive study of the nexus between stormwater run-off, projected long-term land use changes, and infrastructure capacities. Two years ago, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded the Lake Sunapee Protective Association and a team of scientists from Antioch University New England and Syntectic International of Portland, Oregon, a $250,000 grant to study and prepare the Lake Sunapee watershed for increased stormwater runoff.
Lake Sunapee is the drinking water source for nearly 2,100 residents who are part of a community water supply system and hundreds more residents who rely on private wells. It is also one of the sources of the Sugar River which provides back-up drinking water supply in Claremont serving another 9,000 residents. The Commission will assist local municipal planning boards to outline policy strategies that will maintain or improve water quality within Lake Sunapee, and reduce the need for future energy dependent infrastructure.
Additional Information
Funders:
- US Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program