For centuries public water systems have served two main goals; provide water for domestic usage and provide water for fire suppression. Both goals are paramount when it comes to economic development in communities across Maine. Over the past few decades, laws and regulations regarding fire suppression systems have become increasingly stringent across the country. Today more than ever new commercial and multi-family residential buildings are required to have fire suppression systems linked to a reliable water supply, most often a public water system. Maine’s public water utilities receive calls every day from developers and businesses looking to build in our communities; often the first question is how much water is available for fire suppression.

Water utilities routinely preform fire flow tests utilizing fire hydrants to calculate the volume of water available to a building for fire suppression without causing harm to the infrastructure or other customers. When a utility does not have sufficient capacity for the projected fire suppression needs, regularly the proposed development is delayed for years or is abandoned completely. Knowing this, water systems are designed with fire suppression demands in mind; tanks, pumps, pipes and valves are sized larger than what would be required for domestic supply only.

The value of a safe and reliable water supply for developers and businesses puts public water utilities in a critical economic development role. Cities and towns across Maine are actively looking at where they want to encourage development and those conversations often revolve around access to a public water system and other critical utilities.