Bristol West Waterline Project (Phase 2)

Overview and Background:

Much of Bristol’s water distribution system was installed in or around 1905 almost 120 years ago. Those parts of the water system have exceeded their life expectancy, resulting in extremely high water losses each year. This results in increased operational costs, expensive emergency repairs, service interruptions, reduction in fire flows, as well as an increased risk of contamination. The emergency repairs have the additional impact of leaving a patchwork of pavement along village streets.

The Town places safe and affordable drinking water as one of the highest priorities for our community. The Selectboard, in its capacity as the Water Commission, hired Green Mountain Engineering (GME) in 2021 to conduct a study of Bristol’s entire water distribution system. The study identified replacing the nearly 30,000 feet of 1905 waterline as a high priority. Needless to say, this is a very large and costly undertaking for a small community such as Bristol.

The Bristol Water Commission evaluated several approaches and ultimately decided to break the larger project into the following four distinct phases:

  • Phase 1 – Pine Street
  • Phase 2 – Bristol West (includes some or all of Munsill, Maple, Pleasant, Church, Elm, Taylor, West, Park, and School Streets)
  • Phase 3 – Bristol East (includes some or all of Mountain, Fitch, East, North, Main Streets and Pumphouse Road)
  • Phase 4 – Rockydale (includes a cross-country line from the water tower to East Street as well as a cross-country line from the water tower to Rockydale (east side of town).

Updates

DATEDESCRIPTIONDOCUMENTSVIDEO
June 8, 2026Bristol West Water: Maple St Watermain Work, Local OnlyMemo_2026-06-08
June 2, 2026Maple St June 3, Local Traffic OnlyMemo_2026-06-02
May 29, 2026Taylor Avenue Work Continues June 1, Maple Street NextMemo_2026-05-29
May 25, 2026Water System Construction on Elm StreetMemo_2026-05-25
May 6, 2026Bristol West Waterline Community Information MeetingSummaryVideo
September 23, 2024Selectboard MeetingIV.3_Bristol_Water_Upgrade_District_Map_VTM_2024-09-18
IV.3 Bristol_West_Waterline_Replacement_Project_90%_Plans_VTM_2024-08
IV.3_Bristol_West_Opinion_of_Prob_Constr_Cost_VTM_2024-09-20
IV.3_Bristol_West_Opinion_of_Prob_Total_Project_Cost_VTM_2024-09-20
IV.3_E-mail_LEE_Re_Bristol_Water_Line_Soil_Borings_Plan_SMS#20245455_2024-09-18
IV.4_Bristol_West_Waterline_Replacement_Necessity_Resolution_2024-09-23_DRAFT
IV.4_E-mails_Bond_Counsel_Re_Bristol_Bond_Vote_for_Nov. 5_deadlines_2024-09-20
IV.4_Bristol_West_Waterline_Replacement_Necessity_Resolution_2024-09-23_DRAFT_BPM_comments
IV.5_Bristol_Special_Town_Meeting_Warning_2024-11-05_DRAFT
Video

Contact Information

Greg Faust, Town Administrator
Town of Bristol
1 South Street
P.O. Box 249
Bristol, VT 05443
P: (802) 453-2410 Ext. 1
townadmin@bristolvt.org