The History of Grand Isle Consolidated Water District
Grand Isle Consolidated Water District (GICWD) was formed in 1995 to replace Fire Districts (FD) 1, 2 and 3. It was also intended to serve areas in-between and adjacent to those FD. FD 1 consisted of Grand Isle Village, US Route 2 and some of East Shore South. FD 2 consisted of Champlain Estates and property along East Shore South, south of FD 1. FD 3 included property along Route 314, the southern end of Adams School Road and Pearl Street. FD 4 declined to join GICWD, opting to operate its own system for the residents in its district.
The first phase of the water plant construction consisted of the original building with four Kinetico filters and the necessary equipment to meet the then current water standards. The Kinetico filters were a new type of filter for water treatment and they are still in use at our plant today. They consist of a pressurize container that filters the water through a special media. The advantage of these filters is that other than a coagulant, no other chemicals are required to filter the water. The distribution system was installed to connect to the homes and businesses that agreed to join the new GICWD and the Bell Hill three hundred-thousand-gallon water storage tank was built and brought online.
As the distribution system grew, an addition was added to the water plant building and two more Kinetico filters were added and a second storage tank was added on Lovers Lane. This tank was added because of the distance from the bell hill tank and the number of connections in the northern half of the town. It offered a second point to inject the disinfectant, chlorine, into the system. The added chlorine at the Bell Hill tank maintains the trace amount of chlorine required to be detectable at the northern end of the system while allowing for a lower chlorine level leaving the Bell Hill tank.
As years went on, water systems were required to test for disinfection by products in the water that were reported to possibly be cancer causing. GICWD could not maintain the levels below the required reporting level so two possible solutions were considered. One solution was to add the necessary piping to add chloramines to the water. The other was to add a granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration system to the plant. After much discussion the Board decided to go the more expensive route and add two carbon filters to plant. Although more expensive, there was strong resistance to adding more chemicals to the water, and so construction of the GAC system was started with a bond approved by members of the district. With a 0% loan and the project coming in under budget, in the end, this superior filtration system added only approximately $12/quarter to member’s bills.
The addition to the original building was constructed and the two large carbon filters were installed. An unexpected benefit was that because the water that passes through the carbon filters is cleaner, the amount of chlorine added was able to be decreased and there was no longer a need to inject chlorine at the Lover’s Lane tank.
The system continues to age and the Board continues to be proactive, planning ahead financially and updating parts of the system before ruptures occur and before boil water notices are needed. A system-wide valve bolt replacement project has been in progress in recent years replacing rusting and corroding bolts with stainless steel bolts, and a water meter replacement project is also underway as meters are reaching their end of life expectancy. Currently our engineering firm is designing replacement of the worst known parts of the aging distribution system to avoid emergency breaks as the pipes become older and less reliable. This Pipeline Replacement Project passed a bond vote and is expected to be completed in 2025. The Board of Water Commissioners is committed to maintaining a reliable system that produces safe drinking water for its members.
2025 Water Service Rates*
Debt Service: $77.88/quarter
Base Rate: $58.87/quarter
Water Usage: $6.94/1000 gallons used
2024 Water Service Rates*
Debt Service: $94.67/quarter
Base Rate: $53.62/quarter
Water Usage: $6.03/1000 gallons used
2023 Water Service Rates*
Debt Service: $95.93/quarter
Base Rate: $51.34/quarter
Water Usage: $5.66/1000 gallons used
2022 Water Service Rates*
Debt Service: $96.85/quarter
Base Rate: $47.80/quarter
Water Usage: $5.40/1000 gallons used
2021 Water Service Rates*
Debt Service: $97.56/quarter
Base Rate: $49.42/quarter
Water Usage: $5.44/1000 gallons used
2020 Water Service Rates*
Debt Service: $97.56/quarter
Base Rate: $49.42/quarter
Water Usage: $5.44/1000 gallons used
2019 Water Service Rates*
Debt Service: $97.56/quarter
Base Rate: $49.42/quarter
Water Usage: $5.44/1000 gallons used
2018 Water Service Rates*
Debt Service: $100.51/quarter
Base Rate: $49.42/quarter
Water Usage: $5.44/1000 gallons used
2017 Water Service Rates*
Debt Service: $102.57/quarter
Base Rate: $49.42/quarter
Water Usage: $5.44/1000 gallons used
2016 Water Service Rates*
Debt Service: $87.70/quarter
Base Rate: $53.13/quarter
Water Usage: $5.44/1000 gallons used
2015 Water Service Rates*
Debt Service: $90.40/quarter
Base Rate: $50.71/quarter
Water Usage: $5.04/1000 gallons used
*Rates adjusted annually and are always subject to change.