About Us
Thank you for allowing us to be passionate about your water.
It’s not as though employees of the Greater Augusta Utility District GAUD) are all lifelong water geeks. But whatever reason brings an individual to work for the District, it never seems to take long to understand and embrace the privilege of having the responsibility of making sure you consistently have clean water to drink and to run your household or organization — and equally important, to protect the Kennebec River watershed from any ill effects of wastewater or stormwater the community generates.
DEDICATED TO DELIVERING CLEAN WATER AND PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT.
As a regional public utility that owns, operates and maintains three distinct water management systems, GAUD serves more than 10,000 customers — families, city offices, businesses and other organizations.
- Wells, pumps and pipes to supply drinking water and fire protection
- Sewer pipes and a state-of-the-art plant to collect & treat wastewater
- Drains, catch basins, pipes and tanks to collect and hold stormwater
We are one of only a few districts in Maine that provide all three types of service, and the only one that operates on two sides of a river. Via our "Trunkline," we also service the wastewater system in Hallowell, and regional wastewater collection and treatment for the communities of Monmouth, Winthrop and Manchester.
Our history goes back to 1903, when the Augusta Water District was formed to take over a private water company and serve the drinking water and fire protection needs of the City. In 1960, the Augusta Sanitary District was incorporated to handle the wastewater needs. In 2007, the Legislature approved the charter, which integrated the two operations into one stand-alone, quasi-municipal entity: Greater Augusta Utility District.
A SMALL TEAM, ACCOMPLISHING GREAT THINGS
GAUD is managed by Brian Tarbuck, General Manager (right) and Andy Begin, Assistant GM, both highly trained engineers with extensive experience in drinking water and wastewater/stormwater facilities. They supervise a close-knit team of around 45 employees, with a diverse range of skills, in our offices, at our operating facilities, and out on the streets. The GAUD team works hard to ensure that our vast infrastructure is properly maintained and operating to serve customers 24/7/365.
OUR COMMITMENT TO EARNING YOUR TRUST THROUGH EXCELLENCE, INTEGRITY & TRANSPARENCY
A Board of Trustees oversees the operations and finances of the District, and shares responsibility with the management to fulfill the District's Mission and Values outlined below.
As a public entity, we're committed to keeping the public—especially our ratepayers—informed about how we manage the vital services we're entrusted with, including emergency preparedness, cost-control, fair employment practices, and the bases for setting rates. To that end, this website has an exceptional amount of information available at any time, including:
- Our Daily Work Schedule in the field
- Upcoming Trustees Meetings & Minutes and recordings of televised meetings
- Audited Financial Statements going back more than 10 years
- Drinking Water Quality Reports (monthly, and 8 years of annual reports)
- Ongoing test results for PFAS, commonly referred to as “forever chemicals”
- Publications, including Annual Reports, PowerPoint Presentations, Bill Inserts, Newsletters & more
Finally, if you ever have a question or comment about GAUD, we encourage you to call us at (207) 622-3701, or send us an email: Contact@GAUD.ws.
OUR INVESTMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE GOES ON AND ON!
The infrastructure of our Drinking Water and Wastewater/Stormwater systems are broad and complex, requiring a total annual budget of $13 million to maintain.
The biggest investment we must make is to repair, replace and extend our 350 miles of pipes—some of which are actually older than GAUD itself! We have achieved substantial savings—around 50% on pipe repairs in recent years by relining old pipes with a polymer sleeve, instead of digging them up and replacing them with new ones.
VISION, MISSION & GOALS
Vision
Provide healthy and safe water for the Greater Augusta area.
Mission
We will be a high performance utility, operating at the “Best in Class” level as measured against our peers.
Goals
Operations: Provide sustainable, safe and cost effective drinking water, sewer and storm water services.
Safety: Provide adequate fire protection to municipalities served; and ensure workplace safety at all GAUD facilities and in the field.
Quality: Meet or exceed the standards/requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act and all Maine related regulations.
Financial: Maintain and improve GAUD’s financial systems to ensure reliability, transparency and security.
Customer: Provide excellent customer service; communicate clearly, courteously and effectively.
People: Build a high performance team with exceptional leadership and ethical behavior investing in our people who have the spirit to succeed and provide the best quality services to our customers.