Water service restored to EDWA customers in Davistown area
Residents asked to boil water while company tests for bacteria
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Service has been restored to all East Dunkard Water Authority customers living in the Davistown area of Greene County after some of them had been without running water for nearly three full days following a malfunction Friday night that drained a holding tank.
Pennsylvania American Water Co., which in February took over control of the authority that serves 4,200 people in southeastern Greene County, announced Tuesday morning that tap water was flowing again to all of the nearly 200 households affected by the outage.
PAWC spokesman Brent Robinson said the company had been working on sections of the distribution system over the weekend as they methodically restored service to the 184 households impacted. Service was mostly restored by Monday afternoon, but the last remaining homes without water were brought back online by 7 a.m. Tuesday, he said.
While water is now flowing throughout the entire system, the company said it is still working to fully refill the Donley tank, which drained due to an electrical outage Friday night. The Donley tank can hold up to 200,000 gallons of water and is listed as an “older tank in poor condition” that is “in need of rehabilitation,” according to a quarterly report the PAWC filed with state regulators on July 22.
Robinson said the incident was caused by the Davistown Pump Station briefly losing power. The PAWC’s quarterly report lists the Davistown pump as a “newer station in fair condition” that has emergency power. But it also is slated for upgrades using a portion of the $1.94 million in Community Development Block Grant-CARES Act money the authority received in 2022.
“Short-term needs include replacement of pumps and variable frequency drives, and installation of electric surge protection,” the report states. “These improvements are being planned for 2024 under the CDBG.”
The company is now asking customers to boil their water until workers can begin testing to see if it is safe for human consumption. Customers will be notified through the authority’s website, Facebook page or phone messages when the water is safe to drink without boiling.
“Once normal operating levels are obtained in the tank, East Dunkard Water Authority will begin collecting and analyzing additional water quality samples including bacteria samples,” the company said in a statement.
While the boil advisory is in effect, water buffaloes will be stationed at two locations in Dunkard Township. They are located at the intersection where Bunning Hill and Pigeon Hole roads meet in Davistown, and a second one is placed on Meadow Run Road near Bunner Hill Road. Residents are asked to bring their own jugs to fill with water.
Customers living outside of Davistown were not affected by the outage and are not being asked to boil their water.
It was not known if the recent outage might affect the state Public Utility Commission’s review of PAWC’s application to finalize the sale of the East Dunkard Water Authority. The company agreed last July to purchase the authority for $5 million, and it has been working through the approval process, which is expected to be completed this summer.
PAWC has been managing East Dunkard since February as part of a court-ordered receivership at the request of the state Department of Environmental Protection following a malfunction at the authority’s water treatment plant near Dilliner last October, which left customers throughout the entire system without water for three days.