Living Your mainelove

Living your mainelove: The Way Water Should Be, with Portland Water District's Paul Hunt

• jeannie assimos • Season 1 • Episode 1

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Welcome to Living Your mainelove — the podcast where we celebrate the people, places, and passions that make Maine so magical.

Today, we’re diving into something close to our hearts. Our founder and CEO, Jen Millard, is joined by Paul Hunt, Environmental Manager from the Portland Water District, for a conversation that flows right to the source: Sebago Lake — the incredible water inside every can of mainelove.

They’ll talk about what makes this lake so special, how the Portland Water District keeps it pure, and why clean water isn't just a Maine treasure — it’s a responsibility, a privilege, and a love story of its own.

Whether you’ve sipped mainelove at a festival or opened a can during your afternoon hike, this episode will give you a new appreciation for what’s inside — and the people protecting it.

Let’s get into it!





















Jen Millard:

Welcome to Living Your mainelove, the podcast that celebrates the people who are living with passion, purpose, and a whole lot of heart. Each month, we'll sit down with people who are following what lights them up in Maine and beyond. Great to see you, Paul. It's

Paul Hunt:

great to see you, too.

Jen Millard:

Welcome to mainelove here. It's our first podcast, so we're super excited to start with the grandfather of Sebago Lake, or the father of Sebago Lake. How do you think about that? Grandfather sounds old. I know, I know, it does. But I'd love to have you here today, and would love to talk about all things water and the Portland Water District and Sebago Lake.

Paul Hunt:

It's one of my favorite topics. Bob Dylan or baseball, we could also cover that, but probably I should

Jen Millard:

stay. Another episode, another episode. But let's start with you, Paul, and you're obviously a lover of Sebago Lake, and share a little about your story and how you got involved with Water District. How

Paul Hunt:

d Well, I went to school for geology and I just found after I got finished with that, that I just didn't connect with people enough. It was about the earth, which is fascinating to me and deep time, millions of years, hundreds of millions of years. I found it very fascinating, but I just felt that it didn't really connect to it. day-to-day life enough that it was a very select group of people that really cared about the details of it. Whereas water, everyone cares about because we interact with it every single day. And so that's how I made the big pivot to, and this was quite a long time ago, working in the environmental field and water quality in particular.

Jen Millard:

So we're a big believer at mainelove that water drives community. And we see the resource of Portland Water District as supporting community. And so one of our theses around community is how do people think about the quality and the condition of their water, what they serve their family, what they serve their pets. And would you mind sharing with us a little bit some of your favorite Sebago Lake facts, given that we are sitting here in Maine in a beautiful state of water abundance and water replenishability. Could you give us some facts on Sebago Lake just to kind of orient the crowd and then we'll dig in a little.

Paul Hunt:

There are a lot of facts and I'm not going to, we don't have time to go into a great detail. Some of your favorite facts. I'm going to talk about two things. I'm going to talk about quantity and I'm going to talk about quality. We serve water, the Portland Water District where I work, we serve water to 200,000 Mainers. And our customers, and I'm one of them, so we drink 22 million gallons of water every day. If you multiply that times 365 days, you get 8 billion. So our Sebago Lake is providing 8 billion gallons of water every year, but there's more than 800 billion gallons in Sebago Lake, meaning more than 100 years in supply. That's an abundance that other communities can only dream of. It's so much water and it meets all of our needs and there's so much still left there. And if you're a water utility, your product is water. That's all people care about is your water. And we are fortunate that we... will not run out of water in my lifetime, your lifetime, any of our lifetimes. And so that's just a very favorable place to be because if you're a water utility and you don't have enough water, what are you? And now having that much water, a great abundance that's of low quality, well, you can engineer treatment to remove contaminants, but if you can have that much water of high quality, I mean, what else do you need? You have all you need and it doesn't need much treatment. And... Sebago Lake is so clean that it doesn't require filtration. Now, anybody that's using a lake or a river to provide drinking water, the first step is always filter out algae, sediment, because any lake or river is going to have particles in the water and you have to remove them before you disinfect. In the United States, there are 13,000 systems using a lake or a river and all but 50 of them have to filter the water first and then disinfect it. We are one the 50 that the water is so clean, we can skip the filtration step and go right to disinfection. So again, 50 out of 13,000, 12,950 water systems don't have this quality that we do.

Jen Millard:

And I recall you sharing that the EPA came to visit and they were very surprised to learn that filtration. Could you share a little bit about how that always manifest when they come to visit?

Paul Hunt:

I've been at the district for 25 years and this particular type of site visit had not happened in that time so that periodically EPA just chooses water utilities to go and visit. Now we get inspected each year by the state but this was EPA at the federal level. And so I guess just our number came up, there wasn't anything wrong, but they just said, we do these periodic audits. And so they came and spent a week and they asked us every manner of question. They visited all of our facilities. And when they learned that we were one of the, you know, they knew we were one of the unfiltered systems. And so they said, we really want to look at your water quality. And I detected a little bit of like show us that this really, you know, because it's a very rare thing to not require filtration. And so we showed them all of our data. We took them out on the lake. And when they were finished, one of the four auditors who had told us, you know, he'd been in the business for 35 years. He was getting ready to retire. He said, I've been all around the country. I've been all around the world. I've been in water for all these years. I've never seen a water source as good as Sebago Lake.

Jen Millard:

It's incredible. You know, I've spent a lot of time away from Maine. I'm 12th gen Mainer to start. But after college, I moved away and now coming home to build this business in Maine, you know, that feeling of abundance is often taken for granted, I think. I've lived in areas where I don't drink my tap water and I don't know many of my friends that do. How do we help Mainers understand the value and the quality of the water that we have?

Paul Hunt:

You know, I work for a water utility. So we're a public entity. We are owned by the public and we're providing water to the public. So we're probably not the best ones to ask about publicity. That's not really what we do. In fact, the better we do our job, the less the public thinks about us because you don't really want exciting water. You just want the same water you had yesterday and you want that again tomorrow. So we're kind of quietly in the background providing water. But I will say that when I do a lot of presentations and inevitably more than one person says, I love your water. When I go to other places, I don't drink the water. But when I'm in Maine, I drink your water.

Jen Millard:

And that was really one of my inspirations coming home to Maine was how do we do something meaningful around water? I've lived in areas of water scarcity, poor water quality. And coming home, I feel like it's a You know, Maine has a history of managing natural resources without a lot of government intervention for generations. Why should water be any different? And so when we started mainelove, we actually believed that we're a billboard for Sebago Lake. And we want to show the world that up here in Maine, we have not only amazing people doing amazing things, but we also have amazing water. People know us for lobster. People know us for forestry. Why should we not be known for water? So we really use that as our starting point. of our maine love is really Sebago Lake, because without the lake, we wouldn't have our product. And so we're customers of the Portland Water District, and I wanted to spend a little time on sort of how we think about the economics of water, because I think fundamentally, a lot of people take it for granted. especially because the water is so good in Maine. Just go to your faucet, Jen, and get water. Why are you trying to put it in a can? So we use brewers that are already connected to Portland Water today to manufacture our product in a distributed fashion. For explanatory purposes, I would say I pay the brewer to put the water in the can. The brewer is paying the water district. And then what does the water district utilize that capital for, Paul?

Paul Hunt:

One thing about a water utility is 90% of what we own is buried and you can't see it. And yet the whole system won't work without all the thousand miles of buried pipe that we have to maintain. And the way we maintain it is our customers pay for water and we use the money to maintain the system. And The more customers we have, the more water that is being canned and sold, that's more revenue for us. It just helps to pay for the cost of all the pipe network that we have to maintain. There's also treatment facilities and there's vehicles and everything else. All of our infrastructure has to be maintained, but we don't turn a profit. We sell water. to our customers and we use the money to maintain the system. So having more customers only benefits all the ones who are on our system.

Jen Millard:

And in our mind, you know, we see our product as an alternative to alcohol, alternative to single-use plastic, pick your mantra here, with people drinking less. There's also the brewery economy in Maine that is under some pressure. And so we believe we're helping them diversify their revenue. But ultimately, all the products they make are made with the same water.

Paul Hunt:

And the same water coming through the same pipe network that needs to be maintained. And there are 200,000 Mainers that rely on that infrastructure. So helping more customers means more revenue, means better maintenance of the system. That's our economy.

Jen Millard:

And maybe thinking beyond Sebago Lake for a minute, Paul, what's your favorite body of water in Maine, other than Sebago?

Paul Hunt:

I'm supposed to say Sebago, but I live in Cape Elizabeth, and I swim in Casco Bay, and I love Casco Bay. And by the way, that's where the water ends up. After it leaves Sebago Lake, it eventually winds up in Casco Bay. We're also a wastewater utility, so... people who buy our water, borrow it, and then give it back to us. And we treat it and return it to Casco Bay. And so I'm quite fond of Casco Bay. I think it's beautiful and I get to see it every day. I

Jen Millard:

agree. I also see it every day. It is a joy to be home looking at Casco Bay every day. And so when you heard about mainelove and you've met us a few times, how do you perceive that brand? How does that work in your mind once you learned about us and our positioning?

Paul Hunt:

I hate to be so transactional, but I just see more customers. It's more customers because you're distributing the water even beyond the borders of Maine. So those are people who wouldn't otherwise be able to access our water, and therefore it's new customers, essentially, who are providing. Again, I'm very parochial in saying we're about maintaining this system so that it works for the people for the next hundred years, and that requires income. And so I see... I see all users of our water, breweries, there's several beverage manufacturers in Portland. You're just another one. And I'm proud of the fact that you can sell water that's just our water. I get that beer is popular and brewers have to take our water and then make beer from it, but you're not doing that. You're just... selling our water. We're

Jen Millard:

trying to sell water from Maine. The only water purely from Maine. That's our position. It's the best water. We have enough to share. Why don't we? And then, you know, our mark obviously has a big significance around the forest. We recognize that real reason the water is so great is the lack of deforestation. We walk on the water treatment plant if you hike around Sebago Lake. So how important is maintaining the forest here and the land trust that we support as Mainers to do that?

Paul Hunt:

Well, I mean, the... Now you're talking really near and dear to my heart. I've been at the water district for 25 years. And when I was hired, I thought I was getting a water job. I thought I was going to be water quality monitoring and managing laboratories. And that is part of my job. But it didn't take me long to realize that the reason why we have an exemption to filtration, the reason why Sebago Lake water is not filtered by a plant, a treatment plant, is because it's filtered by the forest naturally before it ever reaches the lake. And that is better in so many ways. And I can just name a few of them. If you have to filter the water, if we ever had to do that, engineers tell me it would probably cost us $400 million to build a filtration plant for Sebago Lake. That means our customers would pay for it because, again, we are owned by our customers and we provide services to our customers. our water rates would be changed, would be increased to pay for that. And we avoid that cost because the forest is naturally doing this for us while we sleep. We don't even have to pay them. They just work for us. Now, the big challenge is that... Well, I want to name another reason why it's better to not build filtration in addition to the cost is... A filter plant requires chemical addition. In order to get the particles removed from water that have washed into it, you have to add chemicals. So we would be drinking the residuals of those chemicals. So we completely avoid that step because the trees are naturally treating our water. So the water is less expensive because we don't have to build a filtration plant. It also has fewer chemicals in it. And if we ever reach the point where Sebago Lake had to be filtered, that would mean water quality had declined. So we would have a less clean lake and by the way, the lake is a multi-use lake used by thousands for enjoyment and for recreation as well as a water supply. So we would have a less healthy lake to enjoy, we'd be paying more for the water, and it would have chemicals added to it. Who would be in favor of that? I've talked about the value of the forest around Sebago Lake dozens and dozens of times, and I've never met a Maine person or anybody for that matter that thinks that this isn't a good idea to ensure that the forest stays intact so that it will naturally treat our water so that we don't have to pay to do that. So the forest is really everything. And I didn't know that when I was first hired. It was after I started working. After a few years, I realized this is a land job, not just a water job. And that's why we partner with land trusts in the watershed to work with willing landowners to conserve forest. And it's so popular. As I said, no one's against this, that now 11 organizations are working together. The organizations, the partnerships is known as Sebago Clean Waters. And we're all nonprofits, all dedicated to working with willing landowners who want to conserve the forest and the watershed because it's naturally treating our water.

Jen Millard:

I think a lot of Mainers don't, because we take it for granted, most people have grown up on that water their whole life. Why would they question, you know, why Jen doesn't drink her water in Austin, Texas versus she loves her water in Maine? A lot of Mainers don't perceive the forest component. And so as part of our mission and message, we do, you know, there's a tree on our can for a reason. Without the forest, you don't get the great water. And without protecting the forest from development, deforestation, it's really about the trees. So we always want to tell, you know, sort of land forward for a water company, I think is an interesting point that you're in the land business to

Paul Hunt:

generate clean water. One of the biggest challenges, and this is not a complaint, by the way, but one of the biggest challenges with advocating for the protection of Sebago Lake by conserving forest is that there is no crisis. Often in other parts of the country and other parts of the world, the water source is polluted. Maybe it's having algal bloom problems or other kinds of problems. Well, then if you start to advocate for we need to do something, everyone agrees because they can see and taste and smell the pollution. Sebago Lake is... If you look at photographs of it from the air, it's like the prettiest water supply you'll ever see, and it's spectacularly clean. So it's hard to say to somebody, there's something we should be working on together, and that is protecting it so that it stays this way forever. It's easier to get attention to a problem than to avoiding a future problem. Anybody that you talk to in the water world, if you wait for a water body to decline and then put energy into trying to restore it, it costs way more and it's less effective. We're in this incredibly favorable situation where all we have to do is keep it the way it is, and we can do that. And it doesn't mean, by the way, that there will be development in the watershed. We're people, we need homes, we need businesses, we need jobs, but we can have development and conservation as long as they're progressing apace. And by the way, if we didn't do that, if we didn't conserve forests in the watershed, that would mean when you move to the watershed, you wouldn't be surrounded by beautiful woods. So everyone wants the woods and we want clean water, and we can have all of that.

Jen Millard:

Well, any product with the word Maine on it statistically sells. better because most consumers outside of Maine consider Maine to be of pristine quality, artisanal, you know, hardworking, humble people. So we also believe we're bringing the best of Maine to others and trying to promote, you know, a love for Maine. We all have a love for Maine. That's why we're making this product. That's why we extend it to others. What other, if you were to describe your Maine love, what would it be? How would you describe what you enjoy personally as your Maine love? I know you're a musician. I know you're a big reader. But what is it that you would call your Maine love?

Paul Hunt:

I mean, I have a fondness for Maine because I came here. I'm not from Maine. I was born in Massachusetts. But it wasn't until I arrived in Maine when I was 18 that I said... How have I not lived here my whole life? It just feels like it suits me more. I love Massachusetts, by the way. I still have family there. I still, I love the Red Sox. I still love to go down to Massachusetts and visit, but then I have to come back to Maine because it's just, it suits me. It's less crowded. All the things that you said that are sort of Maine values matter to me. My family was, my girls were born here. And so I have a deep love for Maine and And woods and waters. I mean, Maine is about woods and it's about water. And that's really what the Portland Water District is about. And really, that's what your product is

Jen Millard:

about. And we've tried to really work hard to make our product very accessible. You know, everyone drinks water. You know, since the origin of time, water has driven community. You know, lions will lay down their claws next to antelope to drink out of the same watering hole. So we really do believe that we're driving community in event stadiums, in colleges, in places that... have a mission or a vision to eliminate single use plastic on their campuses or in their environments. But more importantly, I believe we sit at a moment where consumers really want a choice of what they put in their body. We sit at sort of a health span moment where especially younger consumers that are statistically drinking less alcohol, they have lots of other choices, but they do say they want water or sparkling water. So we are sort of trying to meet that customer, whether they're hiking, biking, They love yoga. Everyone drinks water that is active. People in Maine are very active. We actively relax. That's how we describe that feeling. And we want our water to support that and bring that essence of Maine with it wherever it's drank.

Paul Hunt:

Well, I've worked for virtually my entire adult life in the public sector. I believe in public service. I love public service because I love that it's shared. I love the library because we all share those books. No one owns them we all own them together and really that's true of water because there's not rich and poor water there isn't black and white water there isn't gay and straight water there's one water we're all sharing it and we all protect it together we all consume it together it's our water and i love that that's it's for everybody equally

Jen Millard:

That's beautiful, Paul. Thank you so much. Are there any new practices in the industry that you're particularly excited about? Kind of shifting back to maybe a little more technical. Obviously, we have the forest. We have an incredible source. You know, we're up in Maine. We're proud of what we have. We do our best to take care of things. But we should always be mindful of new technology. And especially in Maine, I think we're often think about that second. So are there some new technologies that you're excited about in the water world? I

Paul Hunt:

mean... I'm not the best person, and I'm not very handy, I'm just gonna tell you. I have 180 colleagues at Portland Water District, and some of them can fix anything, they can build anything, they can conceive of infrastructure that I can't even conceive of, so I'm not the best person for this. But I do pay attention, and I will just tell you that one thing that is very new, or in the last 25 years anyway, which is new in the water world, Really, all that buried infrastructure that I talked about is maintaining it requires that you know where it is, when it was put in the ground, and have databases to maintain all that. It's called asset management. It's a trend in the water industry. It used to be you built things, you buried them, and then you waited for them to leak. Then you said, oh, that pipe needs to be replaced. That's really not the best way to go because people don't want to wait while you're repairing the water main. And so being proactive and knowing when things need to be maintained is really... We have something like $300 million worth of assets in the ground. And... Unlike my car, if my car breaks down, well, I call my wife and she drives me to work for a few days while it gets repaired. And so there's a little inconvenience, but it's minor. But if there's no water for a time, that's huge. And so just building our assets and knowing when they're built and knowing when they need to be maintained and doing that automatically, having computers do that for us so that we're not waiting until it breaks is a big trend in the industry. And the district is very committed to that. I would also say that another big a big trend in the industry is what we were already talking about, which is There's gray infrastructure and there's green infrastructure. Gray infrastructure means things that you build to convey water, to treat water, and certainly we're always gonna have to have infrastructure to do that. It's expensive, it has to be maintained, it can break. Green infrastructure is a term meaning if you can keep the woods the woods, then you won't have to build as much gray infrastructure. And so it's like a combination, it's part of your asset portfolio is healthy green infrastructure means less gray infrastructure.

Jen Millard:

That's a really important point at this moment in time as communities are discussing removing fluoride or what chemicals are actually in their water and understanding that in other communities. I think that, again, we take it for granted because it's always been so clean. Other communities can't afford to take that for granted, and it's quite a debate. So if you can avoid the debate, we sit in a land of such abundance. What can Mainers do as an average person to you know, feel like they're contributing to protecting the lake.

Paul Hunt:

Well, as we've talked about, the land is the first step in the treatment process. Even our colleagues at other water utilities in Maine that are filtering the water, that doesn't mean that the forest isn't also still the first step in treatment because as trees get removed and as land gets developed, then any lake is going to be affected by that and water quality is going to be lesser. So whether you're filtering or not, it's still important to have among your developed lands, some forested lands as well. And so no matter where you live in Maine, getting to know who your local land trusts are and working with them, understanding what they're doing, like us, they're nonprofits and they are simply trying to Keep Maine land looking like Maine land. If you live in Maine, you either were born here and you never left because of the woods or you moved here because of the woods. All of us love the woods and they work for us for free. They do their work while we sleep. And no matter where you are in Maine, there's a land trust that you can work with. If you live in the greater Portland area, I really encourage anyone to go to sabagocleanwaters.org and That's where the 11 organizations I talked about, one water utility and 10 others, are combining our efforts to protect this water supply by conserving the woods. You can learn a lot by just going to the website, see what our events are, and learn more about us.

Jen Millard:

Yeah, we're great fans of cleanwater.org. We educate people about Spago Lake all the time, and We're glad you're here today, but we'll also be working with them and hope to have them on the podcast as well.

Paul Hunt:

That would be great.

Jen Millard:

Especially representing all 11 is an incredible, incredible feat. So I think one of my last questions, Paul, and then I'm open to any questions you might have, of course. If you could bottle the spirit of Maine's water, what would that look like to you? It's almost the spirit

Paul Hunt:

of Maine. That's a poetic question. It is a poetic question. I'm a scientist. I'm much better at the non-poetry questions.

Jen Millard:

I see. I see. Well, we believe that we are trying to represent the best of Maine and the best of Maine to people from away with an aspiration of Maine. And we hope that what we're doing drives greater attention to what you're doing to make the lake most sustainable and effortlessly replenishable as long as Maine Love is in business.

Paul Hunt:

Well, I'm surely biased, but I often say Sebago Lake is Maine's most important natural resource. I sometimes say that just to start an argument, because then someone will say, well, what about Casco Bay? Or what about the air? And what about the forest? And so I get that. But my point is that Sebago Lake is used by so many for so much. 200,000 people rely on it for drinking water. So many businesses in this area are using our water to create food and beverages. Make products, yes. And the lake is one of the most popular vacation destinations in Maine as well. surrounded by woods that are also popular places to live, to work, to play. What's more important than that? You could argue Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park. And you know what? If we're in that discussion, Sebago Lake, Baxter State Park, Acadia National Park.

Jen Millard:

Be

Paul Hunt:

hard argument. Yeah, hard argument. I'm happy to finish third in that debate. But I really do think that there's, because of its use as a water supply, which is we all need water to live. I think Sebago Lake is Maine's most important natural resource. And so all the talk that you do about it, all of the publicity you bring to it is only going to be helpful to us.

Jen Millard:

Well, our goal is to make water part of the economy of Maine. And we use asset light model. So, you know, we don't own any factories. We leverage people who are already connected to the system that are already using water to make other food products or to make beer. So we really believe that we're helping to drive, you know, better economic growth utilization of capacity at facilities that are already attached to the lake and provide revenue diversification for some of these facilities, specifically brewers right now. We all use the same water. We have plenty to share. Why don't we work on getting more water into aluminum? And so that's really what inspired me with spending time with brewers and understanding that if you're making a beer in Colorado or if you're making a beer in Maine, chances are you're making your water computer to say Sebago Lake, Maine. And I see brewers do it as I've walked so many breweries all over the country. And you'll see a brewer type in a water profile that is the water profile of Sebago Lake in other states making beer. And it's an incredible thing as a Mainer to witness that, wow, a brewer in New York or a brewer in Colorado, which also have amazing water in those markets, make their water formula to actually be Sebago Lake because of the pH level and some of those factors. So really what we're doing is helping drive economic diversity in a state that's done a beautiful job historically of managing natural resources. Why wouldn't we want to manage water in the same way and really drive economic diversity for people that are already connected and making food and water products? That's our mission.

Paul Hunt:

I mean, I agree with that. It's exciting for me to hear you say that Sebago Lake is like the standard that breweries around the country are aiming for. And I've heard that same thing. I've talked to several brewers in the Portland area and they say, we don't really do anything to your water. We just use it to make beer. And I have colleagues at water utilities, you know, I've talked to a lot of people and when they see our source water, they think we're faking it. Like they look at it and they're like, there's no way that's what you

Jen Millard:

said. I have actually gotten that feedback because we show a beautiful aerial picture of Sebago Lake and some of our materials and people think that we have photoshopped the photo. They don't believe that it's, no, it's a real photo of a real lake that is the water source for Southern Maine. It's real. But people often were like, this is too beautiful, Jen. This cannot, this is not the lake. It's the lake.

Paul Hunt:

working for 25 years of your adult life to protect something as beautiful as that. Like, I feel like it's a great privilege. And, and I will, you know, again, I've worked at the district for a long time, so I know virtually everybody working there and there's this pride of place and it really begins with the water. It's not just the water. We're also proud of what we've built to move the water and to provide it to people and the services we provide. But Sebago Lake is just, it's the unicorn. And, and as I say, I mean, I know some of the other I know people at some of the other utilities in the country that are not filtered like ours, and even they're envious of the water. Sebago Lake is really the ideal water supply.

Jen Millard:

Well, we love it and our customers are loving it as we just crossed 200 stores, Paul. So, you know, I've been working on Maine Love for about a year. So it's a beautiful expression that's coming to life. So we are in 200 doors in Maine and then moving down to 95. So our goal is to bring, you know, that pride of Maine, I think is a beautiful way to think about it. The pride of Maine in every can as we move down 95 to Florida. Water is very expensive logistically to maneuver and to ship. We don't expect to be a national source of water. We would want to be a beautiful regional source of water. That's partially for the earth. We should not be hauling water to lots and lots of places because it's so heavy. It drives so much carbon. But what you realize once I sort of started thinking about this business is there's really capacity in every step of the process. Trucks drive half empties. Brewers don't use their lines all week long. So every step of the process, including even getting my water to Boston, it'll end up getting backhauled on a truck that comes up to Maine full. But when it goes back to Cisco, it's going back filled with water on a backhaul. So there's this capacity in every part of that network. And that's really what we're trying to show is that you can build a beautiful brand with beautiful people in a distributed fashion. that represents the best of Maine and our values. And I'm really proud to be here with you a year almost to the day, Paula, when we started the company. It's amazing.

Paul Hunt:

That's exciting. And that capacity that you're talking about applies to us as well, because we build We've built infrastructure and we can move more water through it, but we only provide as much water as our customers need. So if we have more customers and that water is being used more, that helps pay for the infrastructure that we've bought and that we're maintaining. So there is capacity within our system as well.

Jen Millard:

Well, our focus is really on the biggest impact that aluminum can make against single-use plastic. So you'll see us starting to show up at a lot of stadiums where you can impact... a huge amount of people in a short period of time. Our focus is also on recycling. You know, a lot of people don't recognize that glass is actually very difficult to recycle in rural communities. So one of the reasons that we've been focused on aluminum is everyone knows how to recycle aluminum. And brewers, of course, produce 16-ounce cans, so it's a beautiful marriage. But I also, in this journey, have really learned that, you know, glass, colored glass specifically, is very difficult to recycle in rural areas, Maine included. Most of that is pushed down to Boston or to other communities to be processed. And so one of our other pillars is around recyclability and to make sure consumers really feel like their choice makes a difference. So you'll start to see us at venues and colleges, places that use a lot of bottled water that are really leaning into, we'd like to eliminate single-use plastic on our facility, on our campus. And that's really our mission is to provide that water as the best of May. So we hope to sell a lot of water for you, Paul.

Paul Hunt:

Please do.

Jen Millard:

And we hope a lot of consumers learn more about Maine and the quality of Maine and the quality of Maine water by drinking our water. So we are really thankful to have you today. And

Paul Hunt:

thanks for having me. As I say, it's one of my three favorite topics to talk about.

Jen Millard:

Well, we'd also know that you do a lot of education, K through 12. You do a lot of speaking and you often want to bring water to share with students. We would love to support you on your education journey as you do that. And that gives you the way to bring water with you wherever you go.

Paul Hunt:

I'll be in touch.

Jen Millard:

Definitely. Well, thanks so much, Paul. It's always a pleasure. I learn something every time we sit down and talk about the lake. And we're excited to just be on this journey with you.

Paul Hunt:

It's great to be here. Thanks.

Jen Millard:

Thanks so much.