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“ The families in Prenter go without what we take for granted every day — clean water .”
BRITTANY FURBEE
ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS WVU CHAPTER
West Virginia ’ s Rural Water Crisis
An hour outside of West Virginia ’ s state capitol exists a town that has been living without a maintained water supply for more than 10 years .
Prenter , located in Boone County , was once a booming coal community with more than 150 thriving residents . Today , the town ’ s population has dwindled to just 60 people who deal with the daily struggle of not having clean water . A group of students from West Virginia University ’ s ( WVU ) chapter of Engineers Without Borders ( EWB ) traveled to the tiny town over spring break in an attempt to provide relief to its residents .
Abandoned by Industry
The water system in Prenter was established by what is now known as Honey Island Coal with the intention of serving the town ’ s mining complex as well as the residents within the community . When the coal company left the area in 2007 and eventually filed for bankruptcy , the abandoned water system quickly fell into disarray . Residents have been under a continuous boil-water advisory order since December 5 , 2007 , and the water system has been unmaintained since .
“ The citizens of the community have tried the best they can to at least keep the water flowing but have faced many obstacles ,” says J . D . Douglas , district engineering supervisor with the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources ( DHHR ). “ There is no formal city government in this area to protect the water system , so vandals have broken into the equipment rooms to steal copper and have destroyed the controls .”
According to Douglas , the untreated water , which is pumped through an old natural gas well , has not met disinfection requirements for bacteria
ExEdge
Engineers Without Borders has undertaken communitydriven projects in 42 countries with its more than 16,000 members .
Source : www . ewb-usa . orgfarmwv . org
and virus removal for several years and is heavily laden with hydrogen sulfide , rendering it unsafe for consumption .
“ The families in Prenter go without what we take for granted every day — clean water ,” says Denna Davari , an industrial
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