LEWISBURG W.Va. (WVDN) – Because of confusion expressed by Lewisburg residents regarding recent boil water advisories, Council Member John Little discussed the issues behind these continuing boil water alerts on his Facebook page.
Federal and state drinking water standards are required for Lewisburg City water quality. To meet these requirements, the city must notify residents when water quality falls below those standards. The One-Call system, which is in place to make these notifications, uses the phone number on file at the water department.
He stated, “The City also uses the My Lewisburg app, Facebook, radio, and news media outlets and, as of today, the staff is working to implement a text messaging system. We want all customers informed as quickly as possible.”
Water quality is affected by the intake quality and the water in the lines if there is a leak or repair of a leak in progress. The current capacity of the plant is not sufficient to overtake the intake enough to replace the highly contaminated intake from the river.
The river has been up, and quality has been affected by this. Once the new storage capacity tanks are completed, there will be an opportunity to stop intake and use quality water in storage.
After a boil water advisory has been established, a series of treatments and testing must take place, which sometimes takes 24 hours to prove the water is back to standards.
He also states that many city employees are involved to protect the residents.
“I think I’d just like to remind everyone that the city employees work very hard and take their jobs seriously. They all know how difficult it can be on the citizens and area businesses when there is a Boil Water Advisory and they are working hard on the water system improvements in order to limit issues like this from arising in the future.”
“Mayor Beverly White, City Manager Misty Hill, Tony Legg (Public Works Director), the water delivery employees, and all of the other employees know what this means to the citizens of Lewisburg and the surrounding communities. When folks aren’t notified in a timely manner, it’s not for lack of effort.”
