Bow is pursuing courses of action related to the town’s water supply — negotiating with Hooksett to provide water if a bottling plant opens there and continuing to reach out to Concord for help addressing water quality issues that have plagued the town for several years.

Niagara Water, a bottling company, has expressed interest in setting up a plant in Hooksett. The company would require approximately 600,000 gallons of water per day during the first phase, with an additional 600,000 gallons needed daily in the second phase.

However, Hooksett’s wells alone can’t supply the full demand.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Bow’s select board unanimously voted at Tuesday’s meeting to take an “aggressive” stance on pursuing a possible water deal.

The town has unused water capacity — a well that currently serves about 60 to 80 customers, who together use around 10,000 gallons a day or less, even though it could supply up to a million gallons.

Kip McDaniel, select board chair in Bow, said that while the town has capacity and this is a good opportunity, any decision made will ensure no issues arise for other developments in Bow’s water system.

“I think the board’s vote reflects that anyone willing to buy water from us, and that it’s a good deal for Bow, we will always consider that request,” said McDaniel. “It doesn’t mean that we will end up doing anything, but…we would not be serving the residents of Bow if we didn’t at least listen to requests like that.”

Concord connection

Meanwhile, Bow is turning to Concord – this time with a request for help supplying between 25,000 and 60,000 gallons of clean water per day to the Bow Junction area.

These areas have struggled with groundwater contamination from a gasoline additive called Methyl tertiary-butyl Ether (MtBE), often linked to leaking underground fuel tanks.

This isn’t the first time Bow has requested that Concord extend its water mains – it’s been a decade-long conversation, with Concord repeatedly saying no.

Fred Keach, an at-large city councilor in Concord, said politics, more than logistics, have caused the conversations to stretch for years without a real solution.

“There are some that view sharing water as giving away an economic advantage to Bow in terms of development and perhaps sacrificing development that might happen in Concord,” said Keach. “I’m not on that side of the fence, but I do understand that argument. I don’t think that necessarily should stop us from sharing water and making a bit of a markup on the water.”

The contamination is in Bow’s business district, known as Bow Junction, a commercial hub that includes companies like the Grappone Auto Group. Businesses in the area rely on private wells and have had to install their own treatment systems. Despite these efforts, they frequently deal with corroded water tanks and piping caused by high levels of sodium and MtBE.

Chris Nicolopoulos, a select board member in Bow, noted that areas with existing water infrastructure have attracted substantial investment.

“I think that anywhere in the town that we can provide access to our water system allows for better commercial development because it allows for sprinkler protection,” said Nicolopolous. “But also, you want your businesses to be able to have potable water.”

Last year, Concord released a water study, laying out the potential costs and capacity needed to expand or improve its water service.

For Bow, that study has become a key reference point in estimating the costs associated with connecting to Concord’s system.

According to Tom O’Donovan, a member of Bow’s Drinking Water Protection Committee, the study shows that a one-time fee to tap into Concord’s system could range anywhere from $240,000 to $570,000, depending on how much water the town would need to draw each day.

In an interview with the Monitor, he acknowledged that while Bow has been in ongoing talks with Concord, choosing to connect the town’s existing well to the area with contamination instead of relying on Concord’s water supply isn’t as straightforward as it might sound.

“It’s fairly long run and it’s a change in gradient too because you’re going uphill, so that requires pressure to do it and a pump station or water tanks,” said O’Donovan. “It’s a much more significant undertaking, but it is one that Bow is looking at.”

If Concord agrees to share water with Bow, Marco Philippon, Concord’s water treatment plant superintendent, said the city would sell the water at the retail rate plus an additional 15%. At present, the retail rate is $3.43 per 748 gallons of water.

Supplying water to Bow wouldn’t lead to rate increases for Concord residents, Philippon said, and making sure of that remains a top priority.

“Concord ratepayers should have no financial effect on solving another community’s problems,” said Philippon. “We are happy to certainly help them, so long as they pay for whatever the requirement would be.”

Sruthi Gopalakrishnan can be reached at sgopalakrishnan@cmonitor.com.