The Maine Water Company invites the public to tour its new $60 million Saco River Drinking Water Resource Center on South Street in Biddeford.

The Resource Center, which began service in the summer of 2022, supplies fire protection and high-quality drinking water to the communities of Biddeford, Saco, Old Orchard Beach, and the Pine Point area of Scarborough. The company is holding an open house on Wednesday, March 6th, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at 16 Water Works Drive, which is just off South Street (about a mile west past the South Street bridge over the Maine Turnpike.)

The event is free. Registration is not required, but guests 18 years old and over must bring a government-issued photo ID. Also required for safety reasons are flat, closed-toe shoes.

The company’s water professionals will discuss how they protect the water source as well as the technology that filters, treats and tests the quality of the water. In addition to tours, there will be interactive displays for children and adults to raise awareness about the importance of protecting and conserving water.

“Our employees are eager to meet their customers and show them the care and skill that goes into providing them with clean tap water,” said Mike Cummons, Vice President at Maine Water. “It is a privilege to serve the community, and we want people to understand how their water is transformed from its start in the Saco River to its end as high-quality water at the tap.”

A long-term infrastructure investment, the Saco River Drinking Water Resource Center replaced a facility that was 138 years old, built when Chester A. Arthur was President of the United States. The old building also sat exposed in the flood plain of the Saco River, and had been flooded at least three times in the last century. The new one is safely out of the flood plain.

Thanks largely to completing this complex 10-year project, Maine Water Company was recently named “Utility of the Year” by the New England Water Works Association.