Off-Grid Living in Bridgewater, New Hampshire

I'll be upfront: Bridgewater, New Hampshire doesn't have much of its zoning ordinance posted online, so a good chunk of what follows is "call the town" territory rather than settled fact. Here's what I could actually confirm.

Zoning. Bridgewater is a zoned town, this isn't one of New Hampshire's unzoned townships. The town runs its own Zoning Board and Planning Board out of Town Hall, under the authority New Hampshire law (RSA 674) gives to municipalities. But I could not find the actual ordinance text, so I don't know the district map, minimum lot sizes, or how raw land occupancy is treated. That's a "call the Zoning Board" question.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. Not confirmed. I found no Bridgewater-specific language on tiny homes, RVs as dwellings, or manufactured/mobile home siting. Given how much this varies town to town in NH, don't assume anything here without asking the Building Inspector or Zoning Board directly.

Building permits. This is handled locally. Bridgewater's Building Inspector, James Gickas, issues permits out of Town Hall, and the town's site references both a Building Demolition Permit and a general Building Permit / Land Use Permit. This lines up with the state framework (RSA 155-A) that hands permit enforcement to municipalities, not the state.

Septic and composting toilets. This one's state-level. NH DES's Subsurface Systems Bureau regulates septic design and installation statewide under RSA 485-A, and I found no Bridgewater-specific septic ordinance layered on top. Worth knowing: composting and incinerating toilets are not classified as septic systems under state law, so they sit outside that permitting scheme. Greywater (wastewater not from a toilet or urinal) is also treated separately from septic rules.

Greywater reuse. Not confirmed at the local level. The state document that separates greywater from septic regulation doesn't actually spell out a permit pathway for reusing it, so there's no clear "yes, do this" answer here. I'd ask NH DES and the town both.

Rainwater harvesting. No Bridgewater ordinance turned up either restricting or explicitly permitting it. My best read is that the state's general residential/plumbing code baseline applies and rainwater collection is presumed fine, but that's an inference, not a confirmed local rule.

Wells. Well construction is licensed statewide by the NH Water Well Board under RSA 482-B. I found no Bridgewater-specific well ordinance adding requirements on top of that state baseline.

Utility disconnection. Not confirmed. I found nothing requiring hookup to water or sewer, or banning off-grid living outright, but that doesn't mean there's nothing on the books, it just means I couldn't find it. Confirm with the Building Inspector or Zoning Board.

Bottom line: the state-level rules (septic, wells) are reasonably well documented. The town-level specifics that actually make or break an off-grid plan in Bridgewater are mostly unconfirmed from public sources, so a phone call to Town Hall is genuinely necessary here, not just a formality.