Paden City Tap Water Remains Unusable

photo by: Ed Parsons
Paden City residents line up along Main Street to receive bottled water as the city’s water supply remains unusable.
PADEN CITY — An electrical transformer problem was the culprit in the failure of a valve at a Paden City air stripper plant, allowing a dangerous contaminant to enter the city’s water supply and force residents to stop using city water.
Test results that would allow the city to lift that order could take several weeks to come back, city officials said.
Paden City remained under a “do not use” order for its water Tuesday as officials wait for results from a testing site that will tell them whether the level of Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) in the water has returned to safe levels. PCE is known to impact the nervous system, kidneys, liver, and brain.
The national drinking water standard for PCE is 5 parts per billion. Paden City’s last sample on July 19 was at 30 ppb. Residents have been told to avoid using the water, including taking a bath or shower, washing laundry or running a dishwasher.
Paden City Mayor Steve Kastigar said the city has flushed out its water system, sending approximately 900,000 gallons of water into the sewer system, and replaced the air stripper valve. Kastigar said the city sent water samples from after the valve was repaired to an approved testing site in Florida. Those results could take three to four weeks to come back.
Kastigar said the city chose the Florida site from a list of approved sites, picking the most cost-efficient one.
The city is taking another sample to an Ohio facility today, hoping the results will return much sooner and that the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources accepts the results.
The city has been in contact with DHHR and the Environmental Protection Agency throughout the process.
Kastigar said the air stripper plant is relatively new, but the city would consider backup plans in case such an issue would happen again. It also is looking for alternative water sources, but Kastigar said that may not be feasible.
The city is doing what it can to return things to normal, he added, but it has limited resources. Other agencies have assisted with water donations.
For now, the city is relaying new information on Facebook on both the official Paden City mayor’s page and the city water department’s Facebook page. Kastigan said there have been no attempts to hide any information.
The water distribution schedule for the rest of this week is from 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Thursday and noon-3 p.m. Saturday, both at the Paden City Fire Hall. Those who are homebound and unable to come to the fire hall for water can call the city office at 304-337-8581 during business hours to arrange delivery.
Meanwhile, both Paden City High School and Paden City Elementary School remain open, said Wetzel County Superintendent Cassandra Porter. Precautions are being taken to protect the children and staff from the contamination.
Porter said the district is supplying students with bottled drinking water and has established hand sanitizing stations. Also, all meals are being brought in and are not being prepared at the schools, and disposable eating products are being used.
The precautions are based on recommendations from Paden City Water Department Superintendent Josh Billiter, Porter said. She added that the students still are using the restroom facilities.
Porter said that, if there is any point where she believes students and staff are at risk, she would close the schools. She added that might be a possible question the Wetzel County Board of Education would need to answer at its next meeting if the sample results are not back by that time.
Chuck Clegg contributed to this story.