Portsmouth Water & Fire District

Keep Hydrants Visible During Snow Storms

The Portsmouth Water & Fire District continually asks local consumers to keep an eye out for any fire hydrants that may become buried as a result of a snow storm. At times, the snow may blanket many of the District’s 609 plus fire hydrants, making it nearly impossible to locate them quickly in emergency situations. In the event of a fire, precious time is lost when firefighters have to locate and shovel out fire hydrants. We ask consumers to keep fire hydrants closest to your residence or business clear of snow, with an approximate radius of 3-feet around each hydrant. Consumers should also be extremely careful and aware of vehicle traffic when shoveling snow.

NEWS RELEASE – Property Tax Bills

The Portsmouth Water and Fire District will be mailing the annual Water and Fire District property tax bills the week of October 27, 2025.

Philip Driscoll, Chairman of the Administrative Board, indicated that the District’s tax rate is $0.24 per thousand dollars of assessed value. Mr. Driscoll noted that the tax rate will stay the same as the 2024 rate. The annual District tax on a property assessed at $400,000 is $96.00.

The District encourages customers to pay tax and water bills online at PortsmouthWater.org. Online payments can be made by credit card or debit card. There are no charges assessed for online payments.

Customers who pay their tax or water bills using a bill-pay service must reference their water or tax account number on the check to ensure payment is posted to the proper account.

Payments are due on December 1, 2025. Interest of 1% each month will be applied to the unpaid balance for any accounts not paid by the due date.

Customers, (especially those away for extended periods of time) are urged to provide the District with their current contact information so they can be contacted in the event of a water leak, returned bill or other important correspondence. Any District property owner that has not received a water district tax bill by mid-November should contact the District office at 683-2090 or info@portsmouthwater.org.

Date: October 24, 2025
For Release: Immediately
Contact:
Philip T. Driscoll – 683-2090
Jessica C. Lynch – 683-2090

Public Notice

As part of EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Revision, they have mandated that every public water supplier take an inventory of all the water service lines in their distribution system to identify and remove lead service lines.

There are almost 7,000 metered water service lines in the District. Of these, the material of a small percentage of water services are unknown.

Is your service line documented? We have partnered with 120 Water, using their Public Transparency Dashboard (PTD) to aid in this endeavor.

Click the PTD link above and search your address. If your property is unknown, please give us a call at (401) 683-2090 to schedule a quick appointment to identify the pipe material entering your home.

District Operators are also knocking on select customer’s doors in order to inventory the remaining unknown service lines. Operators carry IDs and can be asked to show identification.

Thank you to all in helping the District stay compliant!

Get Alerts → CodeRED

Our Emergency Notification System is an ultra high-speed telephone communication service designed to deliver emergency messages and distribute information considered to be important in all or specific areas of the Water District. For more details click here!

Notice to Customers Who Have or Plan to Install Lawn Irrigation

Installation of a lawn irrigation system is required to have a backflow assembly installed per Rhode Island General Laws Title 46 Chapter 46-13 Public Drinking Water Protection. The backflow device must be approved by the Portsmouth Water & Fire District prior to installation and inspection.  Contact Mike Hebert, Cross Connection Control Manager, for more information at 401 683-2090 ext.228 Click link for full details.