Water slow to return for many in Raleigh County

Jan. 3—Roughly a thousand residents in Raleigh County have entered their second week without water while thousands more, who have seen their water returned, are under a boil water advisory.

The areas in Raleigh County that remain without water include Bolt, Helen, Hotchkiss, Midway, parts of Prosperity and Slab Fork, according to updates given during a briefing Tuesday morning at the Raleigh County Emergency Operations Center in Beaver.

Anyone who lost water service and then had it return, had discolored water or experienced a decrease in water pressure is currently under a boil water advisory in Raleigh County.

These water outages have also caused Raleigh County Schools to close Tuesday and Wednesday.

Raleigh County Schools Superintendent David Price, who called in to Tuesday's water outage briefing, said he would wait for updates from the Beckley Water Company and other county representatives to determine whether schools could reopen on Thursday.

Jonathan Stanley, a representative with the Beckley Water Company who also called in to the meeting, said those in Bolt and Prosperity could see their water return sometime Tuesday.

He added that residents in Sophia, who have not had water since last Monday, should now have water.

For those living in higher elevations, Stanley said it will take more time to have their water restored as Beckley Water and public service districts providing water in the county try to balance the amount of water they put out with the amount they are able to collect.

"It's going to be a balancing act because we don't want to rob Fitzpatrick (water tank) too much pushing 50 extra gallons a minute to Glen White (and) try to keep Sophia in order to be able to provide it to Slab Fork as well," Stanley said. "So it's going to be a balancing act. We're going to monitor it very closely."

Stanley said he planned to coordinate with Raleigh County Public Service District (PSD) on when they could start sending water to the Slab Fork system.

Shane Bragg, general manager of the Raleigh County PSD, said those living in their Odd system should now have water though he was being conservative with the water being pumped into the area.

"I was making sure my tank levels held through the night before I turned the pumps on, and they did, so we will turn the pumps on today," Bragg said. "So after today every customer I have down there will have water."

He added that for the Slab Fork system, it will take around 24 hours after that system receives water from Beckley Water to transfer that water to customers.

"When I'm able to get water, I'm going to start pumping it up into my (Slab Fork system) tank," Bragg said. "From the time I start pumping it into my tank it will be probably be somewhere around 24 hours before I can start getting enough in my tank to be fed to customers before they'll see much of a difference ... hopefully that'll start sometime this afternoon."

Bragg said he also heard customers in the Bolt area were starting to see their water return.

Boil water advisories remain in effect for all Beckley Water customers who lost water service and then had it return, had discolored water or experienced a decrease in water pressure.

According to the Raleigh County PSD website, boil water advisories were posted for Arnett, Clear Creek and Slab Fork as well as the Egeria, Fitzpatrick and Odd systems.

These boil water advisories were posted to the Raleigh County PSD website on Dec. 27 and 28. A notice lifting those advisories has not been made.

Cool Ridge Flat Top PSD customers are also under a boil water advisory, according to their Facebook page.

"We will call/text when it is lifted and we will post here," read one of their posts made Monday afternoon.

Water outages in Raleigh County were first reported during the weekend of Christmas. It was estimated that nearly 5,000 Raleigh County homes were without water in the days following Christmas.

Officials have pointed to multiple water leaks occurring in customers' homes as well as businesses as the cause for the major water outages.

These leaks cause the depletions of water tanks, holding hundreds of thousands of gallons of water, throughout the system.

Stanley said roughly 90 to 95 percent of the leaks they have detected have been on customers' service lines.

He added that West Virginia American Water has provided crews to help locate these leaks in order for Beckley Water crews to begin necessary repairs.

"I think it's really important that when your customers are already quite upset with you, and sometimes rightfully so in this situation — maybe we're taking it on the chin because it's really on their service lines that we've noticed 90, 95 percent of these leaks," he said.

Most of the water systems in Raleigh County are connected in some way, with Beckley Water being the largest provider.

Stanley said businesses also had a part to play in the water outages.

"Businesses closed the 23rd or 24th (of December) and some of them didn't get back in till today," he said. "The Kmart, that's an abandoned building — that sprinkler system burst. I mean, that almost completely drained our Prosperity tank alone."

He added that the number of leaks in businesses and in customers' homes and the impact it had on their water system was "unlike anything" he had ever seen in his 12 years with Beckley Water.

Water distribution sites have been set up throughout Raleigh County to provide cases of water as well as non-potable water.

Raleigh County Emergency Operations Center Director John Zilinski said roughly 56 pallets, each containing 60 cases of water, have been distributed to residents since last week.

Sites still distributing bottled water include Trap Hill Fire Department and Gospel Lighthouse in Sundial.

Water tanks with non-potable water tankers are located at Helen Park, Whitesville Fire Department, West Main Street in Sophia, Coal River Fire Department and Trap Hill Fire Department.

Residents are required to bring their own containers to fill up from the water tanks. Non-potable water is not safe for consumption.

A mobile shower trailer has also been set up at the Lester Fire Department on Central Avenue. Users must bring their own toiletries and towels.

Residents who are unable to drive to these sites are asked to call 911 to coordinate a water delivery from the county. Residents can also call the county's non-emergency line at 304-255-9114.