After nearly two years of contruction, the new water system along the Route 3A corridor in Bow is near completion, and applications for hookup are now being accepted.

And the good news is, White Water Inc., the company operating the water system, and the town of Bow have agreed to waive the one-time hookup fee to the system for the next six months.

Bow Town Manager David Stack said Scanada International, located on Robinson Road, would probably be the first business to hook up to the new water line.

“We were sick and tired of the terrible water we got from our well,” said Klaus Hieronymus, manager of Scanada International.

The waived hookup fee is a major factor for some companies. For Scanada International and businesses with the same well problems, however, the allure to hookup is all about fresher water.
Hieronymus also understands the town’s plan and believes it should help the area of Bow.

“There are quite a few empty properties here, and it should make them more attractive as far as someone wanting to locate here,” said Hieronymus.

The $12.5 million project for a new water line was approved at the 2002 Bow Town Meeting, and the project was debated and discussed for nearly a decade before any decisions were reached.

The big question that challenged officials in charge of the new project and town residents was whether to wait for new businesses to show interest before constructing the water system, or to install it to lure businesses to town.

At the 2010 Town Meeting, the topic was raised yet again, and the decision was made to go forth with the construction.

Stack, like many of Bow’s residents and town officials, has seen the plan grow over the years and feels the excitement that is earned with patience.

“It’s gone very well,” said Stack. “We have new water tanks, pumping system, new wells with plenty of water, hydrants. So, it’s gone very well.”

The first year of the new water line system will be the most challenging and crucial. The plan is to get new businesses, as well as existing businesses, to hook up to the system along the Route 3A corridor. One of the men influential to the development of the project has been Bill Klubben, the director of community development for Bow.

Klubben recalled the meetings with the town’s financial advisers years ago when the idea for the new water system was proposed.

“If we were patient enough to wait for 10 years, 15 years, we’d get paid back and then some,” said Klubben. “After that, in the additional development, the employment would be kind of a bonus, if you will.”