The Wiscasset Water District got everything it was asking for in a grant-loan package from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, $4.35 million to replace the last of the district’s aged pipes, District Superintendent Chris Cossette said May 25.

“We’re very excited about it, to be able to continue to address the infrastructure and provide a quality product,” Cossette said in a phone interview following the federal agency’s announcement of the award. “We’re extremely happy ...,” he said about the award of the district’s entire request.

The district initially planned to ask for more, but was able to apply for the sum it did after reviewing factors including current construction prices, Cossette added.

The district serves Wiscasset and parts of Edgecomb and Woolwich. Since 2008, in keeping with a capital efficiency plan, the district has replaced more than 18,000 feet of pipe, Cossette said. The projects the new package is funding will replace the remaining 14,350 feet, he said.

It’s the fifth package the district has gotten from the USDA and the 3.25 percent interest rate is the lowest yet, Cossette said. Like the first four, the new loan is also for 40 years, he said.

According to Cossette and a USDA press release, the grant comes to about 30 percent, or $1.15 million, of the package, putting the loan at $3.2 million.

Loan payments stemming from the award will mean a rate increase for district customers; asked for any projection on the hike, Cossette said it’s way to early to determine. The district will be evaluating rates over the winter, with no rate increase expected until mid-2017, he said. The upcoming work will save on costs to address age-related problems like water main breaks, Cossette said.

“(The existing lines) are approximately 100 years old and in poor condition,” which can affect water quality, hydraulics and distribution, and risk costly main breaks, the USDA release states.

The district, a quasi-municipal agency, sought the package and it, not the town, will receive it; however, the district will work with Wiscasset’s highway and sewer departments, as well as the Maine Department of Transportation, to try to coordinate the district’s work with any projects those other agencies have planned, Cossette said. That helps avoid opening up a road multiple times, and spares motorists from running into construction in and outside town at the same time, he said.

Design work is under way for the work on Gardiner Road and Flood Avenue. The rest of the work is primarily in the village, so the district is holding off on that design work until MDOT knows what it will be doing downtown, Cossette said.

He expected to go out to bid this July or early August, go with the lowest qualified bidder, and have work under way this fall or next spring.

USDA Rural Development Director Virginia Manuel states in the May 25 release, “This important project will ensure over a thousand Maine residents have access to the most basic human necessity — clean, safe drinking water. I am pleased that (the agency) can assist the impacted communities in maintaining their quality of life through investing in properly working infrastructure.”