Since August, Maine has faced a persistent drought. Rivers and streams are running low and more than 540 residential wells have run dry in communities like Fryeburg, where a dozen families were forced to rely on bottled water over the summer.
The Maine-based Poland Spring bottled water company, which draws from sources in Fryeburg and other sites, said at the time it was voluntarily reducing withdrawals.
Paul Blest, a reporter from the national advocacy journalism outlet More Perfect Union, decided to take a closer look. Fryeburg and Denmark make monthly water withdrawal reports publicly available on their town websites. Blest discovered that during the month of September, Poland Spring was taking more water from both places than it did in September the two previous years.
"In September 2023, they took out 5.3 million gallons from Fryeburg. And then in 2024 they took out 5.6 million. And this September, they took out 12.2 million. So, it's double what they took out last year. It's also, you know, more than they took out in September 2023 and September 2024 combined," Blest said.
But Poland Spring stands by its actions and its commitment to long-term sustainability. In a written statement, a company spokesperson said that in response to the drought Poland Spring did reduce withdrawals in Fryeburg and other towns between August and September of this year. She also pointed to Fryeburg's maximum sustainable yield set at 600,000 gallons per day by the town hydrogeologist.
"Water collection in Fryeburg was reduced to approximately 410,000 gallons per day in August and September of this year which is about 70% of the sustainable yield of the aquifer," she said.
Of course, there are many ways to look at the numbers. Maine Public's own review of the monthly withdrawal data found that over the past two years, between January and September, Poland Spring's withdrawals increased by more than 40% in Fryeburg and nearly 23% in Denmark.
In Fryeburg, data show that between January and September of 2023, Poland Spring withdrew 63,856,465 gallons from Evergreen Spring. The following year, 2024, the company withdrew 68,551,025 gallons from Evergreen Spring for the same time period. And in 2025, the amount increased to 89,558,859 gallons for the same time frame.
Similarly, in 2023, between January and September, Poland Spring withdrew 52,073,643 gallons from Cold Spring in Denmark. Last year, the number of gallons withdrawn for the same time frame was 54,983,080 gallons. And this year the number jumped to 63,896,410 gallons, still well within sustainability limits, according to Poland Spring. A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection also said he was not aware of any noncompliance with the terms and conditions of Poland Spring's permits.
"I guess I was surprised that they had publicized that they had lowered their withdrawal and that in fact it had increased," said Gregory Huang-Dale, chair of the Fryeburg Select Board who, along with other town officials, has also seen the numbers.
"I wasn't surprised that they were taking as much as they can because that is a market driven system and they, if they can sell it, they'll withdraw it," he said. "It's possible they slowed other places, but not in Fryeburg."
Because the Fryeburg Water Co., a private utility, has a controversial, long-term contract with Poland Spring, the select board's only role is monitoring monthly reports. It can't curtail water withdrawals. But the utility, which owns the local water sources and supplies water to the town, does have that power.
Bill Leatham, a trustee for the Fryeburg Water District, says it's just not clear how the company responded during the drought.
"They refuse to talk to us," he said.
Speaking at a recent Fryeburg Select Board meeting, Leatham asked board members to help deliver a message to the owners of the private utility.
"We would love to buy the Fryeburg Water Co. and turn this into a public entity so you and everyone in this room has an opportunity to be controlling our own water," he said.
The Fryeburg Water District was established by the Legislature 20 years ago as a way for residents to purchase the private water company should its owners ever decide to sell. Leatham says trustees recently sent a letter to the company expressing their interest in taking it over, only to have the letter returned in the mail.
"I'm angry and I'm frustrated and I wish we had control of our water," said Emily Strahler after the meeting. Strahler also serves as a trustee for the Fryeburg Water District. She says it was concerning to hear that other residents' wells dried up over the summer and then find out that Poland Spring is extracting more water from the town this year than it did last.
She and Leatham suspect that the reason the Fryeburg Water Co. doesn't want to discuss a sale is because it's doing well financially. Leatham says if the utility were publicly owned, profits would be returned to the town.
"We could still be selling water to Poland Springs but there would be a lot more transparency," he said.
A call to the Fryeburg Water Co. was not immediately returned. Fryeburg select board members say they'll attempt to meet with company representatives early next year.
Maine Public news editor Andrew Catalina contributed to this story.
