Trash is handled very differently from one southern New Hampshire town to the next, and water sources vary just as much. Here is what newcomers should sort out before and after moving day.
People moving up from Massachusetts or elsewhere are often surprised by how much of daily life here works town by town. A family can drive ten minutes and go from curbside carts to a dump sticker, or from a city water bill to a private well.
This guide gathers what to know about trash, recycling and water in the first weeks, and how to get the home itself clean before the boxes come in.
Nashua Public Works collects trash at the curb weekly for most homes and recycling every other week on the same day. Carts take no overflow, and extra bags from a move must go to the Four Hills landfill with a landfill sticker. Oversized items and appliances are picked up by appointment from mid-spring through October only.
Elsewhere you may be taking it yourself. Merrimack has no curbside pickup, so residents use the transfer station on Fearon Road with a permit sticker. Bedford requires a sticker for its transfer station at 77 Chubbuck Road, closed Sundays and Mondays. Amherst uses a station on Route 101, which does not accept hazardous waste, and it takes part in the Nashua Regional Household Hazardous Waste Collection Program. Hollis runs the Rocky Pond Transfer Station, with Wednesday morning hours reserved for residents 60 and older. Get the sticker before moving day rather than after.
Water here is just as local. Pennichuck's Nashua Core system draws from the Pennichuck Brook and Merrimack River watersheds, and the City of Nashua has owned the company since 2012. Manchester has drawn from Lake Massabesic since 1874, and since August 2023 a plant in Hooksett has added Merrimack River water. All of the Merrimack Village District's water comes from groundwater wells in Merrimack and Hollis, with iron, manganese and PFAS treatment facilities.
If the home is on a private well, get to know it. UNH Extension encourages well owners to have an accredited lab test their water every 3 to 5 years, with a standard test covering hardness, iron, manganese, arsenic, chloride and sodium. Bedford requires a state certified lab test of every new or replacement well, so ask the seller for those results. The town also keeps a PFAS information page on well contamination tied to the Saint-Gobain area, including state rebate and reimbursement programs.
An empty home is much easier to clean than one with furniture in it, so this is the moment to do it. A One-Time Moving Clean covers everything in a deep clean and adds the inside of the oven, refrigerator and cabinets. It also includes wet-wiped blinds, hand washed baseboards and cleared window tracks. Empty closets and cabinets are often where previous owners or tenants leave the most behind.
If you are taking on a rental, remember that New Hampshire gives tenants 5 days after moving in to list existing problems in writing. Take dated photos of each room before you clean or unpack. That record may matter at the end of your lease, when a landlord has 30 days to return your deposit.
Newcomers may also meet a new kind of heat. Utility gas heats about 70 percent of Nashua's occupied homes, but fuel oil or kerosene heats about 30 percent of occupied homes across Hillsborough County, and bottled or tank gas about 15 percent. In Amherst and Hollis, oil heats about half of homes and tank gas much of the rest.
Ask when the system was last serviced. A dirty burner can leave soot on registers and walls, and that is a repair issue first and a cleaning issue second. Once it has been serviced, regular dusting of vents and registers keeps things under control.
Some things only show up with the seasons. UNH Extension says Asian ladybugs and cluster flies invade New Hampshire homes in fall, and stink bugs wander back indoors in spring, so seeing a few does not mean the house has a problem. It is worth sealing cracks before September 10. In winter, Nashua asks residents to keep carts off snow banks, and snow averages about 53 inches a year. The seasonal calendar gives you the full year, and the cost page shows starting prices once you are ready to think about regular help.
The questions Nashua homeowners ask most often about this topic, answered plainly.
TotalCare Cleaning will service Nashua and surrounding areas with background-checked cleaners and is insured up to $1 million. Re-clean guarantee: if we missed something, tell us by the end of the next day and we come back to fix it. Beyond Clean. TotalCare.
