After More Than 10 Years Of Boil Water Advisory, West Virginia Town Getting Clean Water
KEYSTONE, W.Va. (AP) — Residents of one West Virginia community have something to look forward to in 2022: after more than 10 years of having to boil water, they are being connected to a new water system, West Virginia Public Broadcasting reports.
Many of the current water systems in parts of the southern coalfields were installed in the early 1900s by coal companies and have been failing for years. Residents in McDowell County's Keystone community have been on a boil water advisory since 2010, but that is finally changing.
Phase one of the Elkhorn Water Project began in 2015. It includes a new 400,000 gallon water storage tank on Elkhorn Mountain that has allowed the McDowell Public Service District to install a line to the communities of Anawalt, Jenkinjones, Pageton and Skygusty.
Phase two is connecting about 450 additional residents, including those in Keystone. The McDowell County Public Service District said just before Christmas that contractors were in the process of connecting water service to resident's homes. They said the decade-old boil water notice would finally be lifted once all the homes were connected and the old system was taken offline.
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