Off-Grid Living in Bath, New Hampshire

I'll be upfront: Bath, New Hampshire is a small town along the Ammonoosuc and Connecticut Rivers, and while I could confirm the town has an active zoning ordinance (last amended 2014, per the Town of Bath's own posted document), I was not able to pull the actual substantive text of that ordinance out of the PDF the town has posted online. So a fair amount of what follows is "here's the framework, go confirm the details with the town" rather than "here's exactly what the rule says." I'd rather tell you that plainly than guess at section numbers or acreage minimums I can't verify.

Zoning. Bath is a zoned town, administered locally through a Planning Board / Zoning Administrator process, with its own Zoning Ordinance document on file. What I couldn't confirm is district-by-district detail, like whether there are minimum lot sizes for building on raw land, or which districts allow what. That's a call-the-town-office question.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. I found no Bath-specific language on tiny homes, ADUs, or RV living. That doesn't mean it's forbidden, it means I couldn't verify a rule either way from official sources, so treat it as unclear until the Zoning Administrator tells you otherwise.

Building permits. This one's solid: Bath has an official Building Permit Application, meaning the town does require and issue building permits locally. This lines up with how New Hampshire structures things statewide (RSA 155-A puts enforcement authority at the municipal level), so Bath is doing what most NH towns do.

Septic and composting toilets. This is state-regulated, not a Bath quirk. Any septic system needs to be designed by a New Hampshire-licensed septic designer, and the NH Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) has to approve construction and, later, operation, under its statewide subsurface rules. Bath itself doesn't appear to have added its own composting-toilet ordinance on top of that, but I'd confirm directly with NHDES or the town if you're planning to skip a conventional septic system entirely.

Greywater and rainwater. I found nothing specific to Bath, or frankly anything unusual at the state level, addressing residential greywater reuse or rainwater harvesting. That's a gap in what I could confirm, not necessarily a prohibition.

Wells. Private wells in New Hampshire fall under the state Water Well Board, and I didn't find any additional Bath-specific well ordinance layered on top.

Utility disconnection. No evidence of a Bath ordinance requiring you to hook up to water or sewer, but Bath is rural and doesn't have much in the way of municipal water/sewer infrastructure to begin with, so this may simply be a non-issue locally. Still, I don't have an official statement confirming that outright.

Bottom line: building permits and septic rules are clearly on the books and enforced (town for building, state for septic), but a lot of the off-grid specifics, ADUs, greywater, rainwater, come back "not confirmed." Call the town office before you commit to a plan.