The Fryeburg Water Company is a privately owned

utility In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings. * In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish ...

in the town of

Fryeburg, Maine Fryeburg is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,369 at the 2020 census. Fryeburg is home to Fryeburg Academy, a semi-private preparatory school, and the International Musical Arts Institute. The town is also si ...

. The water company operates Evergreen Spring, which provides a sizable amount of the water used by

Poland Spring Poland Spring is a brand of bottled water produced in Poland, Maine. It is named after the natural spring in the town of Poland, Maine that it was originally drawn from. It was a subsidiary of the private equity firm, BlueTriton Brands, formerly ...

Controversy

The Fryeburg Water Company was ordered by the New Hampshire Utilities Commission (NHPUC) to provide the residents of East Conway, New Hampshire with

bottled water Bottled water is drinking water (e.g., Water well, well water, distilled water, Reverse osmosis, reverse osmosis water, mineral water, or Spring (hydrology), spring water) packaged in Plastic bottle, plastic or Glass bottle, glass water bott ...

(incidentally, the water that the utility sold to the Nestlé subsidiary) until the company fixed a pipeline that brought water from the spring in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

to the homes in

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. The Fryeburg Water Co. announced that they would fix it in the future, probably in 2008. Shortly after, they announced the sale of the pipeline to another company, which would probably not fix it until 2009 or 2010. That company has taken over the responsibility of providing water to the area's residents. In 2005, the town of Fryeburg voted to buy the Fryeburg Water Co. and establish a publicly owned water district. In 2014, the Maine Public Utilities Commission voted to allow Fryeburg to sell the town's water to Poland Spring.

References

{{reflist Companies based in Oxford County, Maine Fryeburg, Maine Water companies of the United States