WWTPs Work Together To Recover From West Virginia Flood

The state of West Virginia is still recovering from the historic flood on June 23rd, which brought 8 to 10 inches of rain in six to eight hours in parts of the state.

The flood killed 23 people, forced thousands to evacuate, and destroyed or damaged thousands of homes and businesses, reports USA Today.

Wastewater treatment plants were no exception. According to the Register Herald, the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection (DEP) has released a statement reporting damages of varying degrees at WWTPs across the state.

The WWTP in the city of Ronceverte suffered the most damage. According to the Herald, the flood submerged the plant under several feet underwater, and damaged its electrical system and pumps.

Kathy Emery, Office of Water Resources for Ronceverte, said that raw sewage is still discharging into the Greenbrier River due to the damage the plant sustained during the flood. An advisory to residents who use the river downstream for recreation has been issued.

Residents have been advised to continue using their water as normal, as the plant is utilizing two pumps on site to pump sewage into the plant and a generator to run the disinfection system.

City officials, the National Guard, a consulting engineer and DEP staff are working to correct the problem as quickly as possible, reports the Herald. Other utilities are also pitching in.

"It's been quite amazing the assistance we've gotten from other utilities that weren't damaged," said Emery in the Herald report. "There was a lot of help from across the state.

Other West Virginia plants suffered more minimal, yet still significant, damage.

In the city of Craigsville, the flood the submerged the WWTP under water, causing it to be temporarily inoperable. It was repaired and working again by June 29, but the town had to obtain a sludge truck to haul additional dewatered sludge.

Officials are still assessing the damage at White Sulphur Springs’s WWTP, but so far it has been determined that the plant’s collection system had extensive damage,” according to the Herald.

Pumping systems were damaged by the flood in both Richwood, Rainelle, and Rupert and they were inoperable for some time after the event. All are back up and running.

Despite the damages across the state, most utilities are on their way to recovering and are currently in operation. This was accomplished by WWTPs banning together and sharing resources so they could each get back up and running as swiftly as possible, reports the Herald.