The state's largest water distribution project hits a milestone this month. Households in Salem, Atkinson, and Hampstead will start getting water from Manchester through the Southern New Hampshire Regional Water Interconnection Project.
The interconnection project aims to pipe 3 million gallons of water a day from Manchester tofive towns in Southern N.H. facing water shortages and contamination.
The $39.4 million state initiative is funded from legal settlements with oil companies over MtBE, a gasoline additive that polluted water sources across the country, including New Hampshire.
State officials say construction on the Southern N.H. Regional Water Interconnection Project should be complete by the end of 2021. They estimate the increased water supply will meet the needs of 30,000 additional users.