CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – The Weirton Area Water Board was ordered Friday to submit within 90 days a series of action plans to the Public Service Commission of West Virginia to address severe water problems and line leakages in the Northern Panhandle city’s system.
The city was told to submit actions plans detailing how it will replace cast iron and galvanized pipe over the next five years; how it will define a leak detection and repair program; how it will achieve a water loss percentage of 15 percent or less; how it will resolve its violations of Bureau for Public Health standards; and that it have a process in place to provide alerts to customers via both text messages and email.
The Commission said in a 13-page order it would also require for each new customer, and for all the system’s customers once a year, that the board shall include in its bills a list of the many modes of access to information the customers will have during major outages or crises, including a number customers can contact to answer question during a crisis.
The system serves 9,400 customers through 142 miles of water lines of varying ages, sizes and materials. The system has a combined capacity of 6.1 million gallons.
The investigation into the water system was sparked by a complaint filed by House Majority Leader Patrick McGeehan, R-Hancock, on February 14, after the city had suffered “prolonged water outages, low water pressure, and boil water advisories that began in December 2024.”
The Commission initiated an investigation on February 24. The Commission held a public comment hearing on April 23 in Weirton during which several residents testified to the problems and their frustrations with a lack of communications, transparency, accountability and management culture at the board.
The PSC staff investigation revealed several deficiencies, including the fact that approximately 40 percent of the water lines are buried above the frost line, which did not meet state standards.
More information on this case can be found on the PSC website: www.psc.state.wv.us. Click on “Case Information” and access Case No. 25-0262-W-P.
