About Us

At Rye Water District , our goal is to provide safe, clean drinking water to all of our residents! The Rye Water District is a private non-profit municipality. The staff is limited to one Business Manager, Three Field Operators including Superintendent Assistant Superintentendent and three elected Commisioners. The District's system has three wells located on Garland Road, two different pressure zones, approximately 39 miles of distribution pipe ranging from 2" up to 12" and three seperate storage tanks. There are approximately 1,600 service connections serving an estimated population of 4,000 residents. Just under 300 hydrants provide fire protection to properties within the District's area of coverage.

Historical Background

Water service in the Town of Rye began with the establishment of the Wallis Sands Water Commission in the early 1940's. The Commission provided water to properties On Ocean boulevard, from Odiorne Point on Pioneer Road to Wallis Sands lifeboat station. In 1948, the Rye Water District was formed. At that time, the water was purchased from the City of Portsmouth and entered Rye's system through a connection through a master meter at Odiorne Point. A second connection point was installed on Sagamore Road in 1963. In 1977, the District installed it's first well, the Garland Well, and ceased to buy water from Portsmouth for it's main system. However the District still purchases water from Portsmouth for the Rye residents on Wentworth Road, Heather Drive, Harborview Road, Frontier Road and Elizabeth Lane. Since that time the District has installed two additional wells, Bailey Brook and Cedar Run, to meet the necessary water system demand.

The Rye Water District (RWD) now provides public water service to the majority of the Town of Rye. In 1963, a booster pump station was installed at the current Rye water District office., and the first two water storage tanks went online . The second tank, at the rear of the site, was constructed in 1984. In 1996, the District installed the Breakfast Hill tank with a capacity of 1,250,000 gallons. The Breakfast Hill Tank supplies water to the high elevation pressure zone ( Breakfast Hill Zone) in the southwestern geographic area of the town. This zone also provides water for Portsmouth Water for their Greenland residents on Seavey Way and The Bethany Church.