The West Virginia Public Service Commission wants to make certain it is receiving regular updates on efforts by the Weirton Area Water Board to meet its orders related to upgrades to Weirton’s municipal water system.

In an order released Wednesday, the PSC orders “that the Weirton Area Water Board shall file status reports every three months detailing the progress of implementation” of seven items included in its previous orders concerning the water system, with first quarterly report to be filed by Jan. 15.

Each report will “identify actions completed since the prior report, actions currently underway, anticipated next steps, and any obstacles or delays affecting implementation.”

The Weirton Area Water Board has contracted with the Thrasher Group to design a preliminary engineering report on the planned replacement of cast iron and galvanized steel lines within the system.

“We have been working on that since September,” noted Jesse Alden, project manager for Thrasher, during the Water Board’s Dec. 11 meeting.

As part of the report, staff are conducting an inventory of all lines within the system with a goal of developing a scope for the replacement project by February.

The preliminary report is due to the PSC in June.

It all stems from a series of outages and city-wide boil orders issued one year ago following multiple water line breaks in the city.

As a result of its investigation, the PSC issued an order in July directing the Water Board to submit an action plan to:

– Replace the cast iron and galvanized piping over the next five years;

– Submit an action plan to define a leak detection and repair program;

– Achieve a water loss percentage of 15 percent or less;

– Resolve its violations of Bureau for Public Health Standards which included having water lines located at a 36-inch depth instead of the current requirements of at least 42 inches;

– Develop a possible alternate water supply to provide an additional backup during major outages;

– Have a process to provide alerts to customers by both text and email messages; and

– Provide details on how customers may access information during major outages or crises.

The Water Board filed its initial plan in October.

All of the projects under the order are in addition to the ongoing expansion of the water treatment plant, which would expand treatment capacity from its current 4 million gallons of water per day to 8 million gallons per day.