Kennebec Water District
Waterville, Maine

Kennebec Water District (KWD) is a public water utility founded in 1899 and the first water district in the United States. As a quasi-municipal corporation, KWD serves six municipalities in Central Maine.

KWD was originally located in Waterville on two parcels of land with the Messalonskee Stream separating the business office from the 150-year-old operations facility. The location was inefficient and no longer capable of accommodating the utility’s growing administrative and operational needs. Following a year-long search, a suitable 15.5-acre parcel in Waterville was acquired for the larger facility.

KWD’s program goals for the expanded facility included a building to house administrative services, public reception area, Trustees meeting/training space, garage/fleet maintenance and a wash bay. Additionally, KWD required further space to accommodate wet soils processing, pipe/materials storage and aggregate/cold storage buildings to improve the efficiency of cold weather operations. Other objectives included a selection of materials/systems to exceed a 50-year design life, with sustainability goals for a high-performance building envelope and a reduced carbon footprint.

Qualifications were sought from a select number of qualified design firms. SMRT of Portland, ME teamed with Sebago Technics as a civil consultant was selected due to their experience with similar municipal projects. SMRT guided KWD through the design process of further defining their program and meeting project goals, while Sebago Technics integrated the buildings and laydown areas into the sensitive site.

The final design delivered a 24,000 sf administration and operations facility with an energy efficient envelope, architectural metal/composite wall panels and black storefront framing to allow natural light into office spaces. To achieve the team’s goals of reducing the carbon footprint, a geothermal well field and heat pumps provide HVAC. In addition, a solar array is being constructed at the water treatment plant.

Kennebec Water District engaged JF Scott Construction as the construction manager and commenced construction in April 2022 achieving substantial completion in early July 2023. The project was well executed by the entire team and was completed three months early and substantially under budget.

CC of Maine was retained to provide owner’s representative services in order to facilitate the management of the project and thereby protect KWD’s interests.

Rendering by SMRT