The Kennebec Water District (KWD) was founded in 1899. KWD is a quasi-municipal corporation serving municipalities in both Kennebec County and Somerset County in Central Maine. KWD supplies its service municipalities of Waterville, Winslow, Fairfield, Benton, and Vassalboro with water for domestic, commercial, and fire protection purposes and also serves as the source of supply for the Maine Water Company in the town of Oakland. KWD uses China Lake as its sole source of supply. It filters and treats the China Lake water in its Vassalboro filtration facility, a state-of-the-art plant placed online in August 1993. KWD is directed by an elected board of ten trustees. The total organizational structure consists of only twenty-seven employees. Those employees are responsible for a). source water protection, b). the operation of the twelve million gallon per day filtration facility, c). the operations and maintenance of a distribution system consisting of approximately 170 miles of main, almost 9000 services and meters, hundreds of hydrants, thousands of valves, d). the upkeep of more than fifteen structures including concrete and steel storage tanks and their associated pumping stations, e). the financial, engineering, and administrative functions to support those operations. KWD is regulated in its operations by the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) as enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Maine Drinking Water Program and in its financial dealings by the Maine Public Utilities Commission.