CHARLESTON (WVVA) - West Virginia American Water issued a statement late Saturday evening to dispel rumors circulating that a mandatory shutoff of the state's water was scheduled to take place. You can read their entire release below.
Some towns in the region are experiencing loss of water service due to the power outages.
Residents in Oak Hill reported a loss of water service Saturday. Water was available from tankers stationed at WV American Water's Oak Hill operations and at 129 Highland Avenue near Plateau Medical Center.
Residents in Northfork remained without water. Northfork mayor Bernie Shupe had previously reported the town experienced a pump malfunction before Friday's storm. A 5,000 gallon tanker was providing water to residents at Kimball Elementary School.
Water service was restored to the town of Pocahontas Va. late Saturday. Residents are advised to boil water before use.
Following is the full release from West Virginia American Water:
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (June 30, 2012) – In response to inaccurate information being circulated throughout the state, West Virginia American Water is assuring customers that planned no water outages are scheduled in any of its service areas as a result of a widespread power outage that has left an estimated 500,000 West Virginians without power. The company has no intention of shutting of service to any of its customer base; rather, crews are working around the clock to restore service in outlying areas where the company has not be able to supply backup power sources at this time. Any scheduled shutoffs would be announced prior to the shutoff via a press release and posted to the company's website.
Some small pockets of customers in the higher elevations of the outlying parts of the company's water systems may still experience disruptions in their water service until power is restored, which will occur incrementally. Also, the town of Oak Hill in Fayette County is experiencing a water outage due to a generator malfunction at the New River water treatment plant, which caused the water storage tanks that serve Oak Hill to be depleted. West Virginia American Water is working as quickly as possible to remedy these situations.
Crews have been working around the clock since last night's storm to deploy emergency generators to dozens of remote sites including water storage tanks and booster stations that remain without power. Remote sites that have lost power or lost communication with the plant control room must each be check manually, which unfortunately has been hampered by downed trees and power lines – rendering some sites inaccessible.
West Virginia American Water also assures customers that it has not issued any mandatory conservation orders for any parts of its system. Apart from the current outage in Fayette County, all other outages are due to power failures – not due to the unavailability of treated water. Therefore, there is no need for customers to conserve water at this time.
West Virginia American Water has stationed water tankers for customers without water at the following locations:
· Kanawha County – South Charleston Community Center on Jefferson Road
in South Charleston.
· Cabell County – Kinetic Park Drive off of Hal Greer Boulevard/Troy
Brown Highway (adjacent to Bob Evans)
· Fayette County – West Virginia American Water's Oak Hill Operations
Center, located at 129 Highland Ave in Oak Hill (near Plateau Medical
Center)
Updates will be provided on our website at www.westvirginiaamwater.com or by calling West Virginia American Water's 24-hour customer service center at 1-800-685-8660.
