WELCH, WV (WOAY) – Gov. Patrick Morrisey held a press conference in McDowell County on Wednesday to announce $3.2 million aimed at helping households relying on private water.
“The challenges that West Virginia families face, they don’t stop when there are elections,” Morrisey said. “They keep going. People have bills to pay. They need good jobs. They need affordable energy, access to good health care. We need to keep working on that every single day.”
The money will be available to 5,000 homes in McDowell and Mingo counties that use private wells, springs or cisterns and will help pay for well testing, disinfection, filtration and replacement filters in homes dealing with coliform bacteria, which has been found in 90% of wells and springs in the region. It will also help with heavy iron levels, which has caused serious staining problems in sinks, tubs, and laundry.
“Some are spending thousands of dollars a year buying bottled water just so you can have something safe to drink,” Morrisey said. “Let’s all reach the agreement that we can do better… we’ve made a lot of progress even since August, and we’re going to keep going from there.”
Of the total, $1.2 million comes from the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, while $2 million comes from the governor’s Civil Contingent Fund.
The state Department of Health and Department of Environmental Protection are looking for a qualified organization to manage distribution and testing.
Distribution is expected to start in February.
“We’ve committed significant resources to improving water infrastructure across West Virginia, but extending public water lines to every rural home takes time,” Governor Morrisey said. “We can’t tell families who need safe drinking water today that they simply have to wait. This initiative provides a practical solution while we continue making those longer-term investments.”
