Tank Water Heaters in Windham, Maine

Windham Homes and What They Need

Windham is the largest town of these five, with about 19,000 residents, and its housing reflects decades of steady growth. Census estimates put the median home at 1985; about 42 percent of homes predate 1980 and about 12 percent predate 1940, much of it in the old villages of South Windham, Windham Center and Windham Hill, while about 12 percent have been built since 2010. Roughly one in eleven housing units is held for seasonal or occasional use, clustered on the shores of Sebago Lake, Little Sebago Lake and Highland Lake, and the town's own planning documents note that many former camps are now year-round homes reached by old gravel roads. Those conversions are where the problems concentrate: uninsulated crawlspaces, supply lines run for summer use, undersized wiring and heat added room by room. Ductless mini-splits suit converted camps because they need no ductwork.

Water Supply and Drains in Windham

The Portland Water District supplies public water in parts of Windham, but for sewage the town has long relied on individual septic systems, for homes and businesses alike, and many houses outside the mains draw from private wells. That is changing in North Windham: a new treatment plant near Manchester School, using membrane bioreactor treatment with drip dispersal, began operating on August 19, 2026. The town built it because nitrate levels in the North Windham aquifer, fed by septic discharges, exceeded drinking water standards and threatened Sebago Lake. Businesses around the Route 302 corridor were connected first, and residential connections are expected to follow, with owners signing connection applications and access agreements. For a house on the new line, the plumbing work of a sewer hookup means abandoning the septic tank correctly and running a sound lateral to the main.

Getting to Know Windham