05-03-2025
Together We Thrive unveils water filtration system in Pennsboro
PENNSBORO, (WBOY) — After elevated levels of arsenic and lead were found during testing of some water in Ritchie County in 2024, a new water filtration system has been unofficially installed.
Both Pennsboro and Ellenboro previously discovered that several residents living outside city limits rely on wells contaminated with arsenic, lead and other harmful substances affecting their drinking water. City officials said that they have been actively working to secure funding for a public water expansion project to address this issue.
'We were told by the state of West Virginia in the last administration that the funding was there and that we would receive it, and then at the end of the year we didn't get it,' Pennsboro Mayor Robert Riggs said. 'We are trying to check all avenues of funding through the state and federal level to get these people safe drinking water.
Together We Thrive—a California-based nonprofit run by the same company that donated 14,000 bottles of water to Richie County in 2024—has now donated a state-of-the-art water purification system to the City of Pennsboro.
Pennsboro city officials said that the water filtration system installed by Together We Thrive at the city building provides filtered water not only to residents of Ritchie County but also to those in surrounding counties experiencing water issues.
'What is happening right here in this town is that with the plumbing, it's disintegrating, and so some of the stuff that is in the pipes is actually getting into the water. Also, when pipes start to break down or if the pH balance changes, there is a film that grows on the inside of a pipe and when the pH changes, that starts to break down too, so that will also get in the water,' Together We Thrive Executive Director Lindsay Chambers said.
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The testing was conducted after residents of Highland-Hebron brought their concerns to the mayors of Ellenboro and Pennsboro, highlighting their lack of sufficient water and their request to be included in a water expansion project along WV Route 74. Ritchie County officials stated that the estimated cost for the expansion project, which will impact both Pennsboro and Ellenboro, is $7.1 million.
'We did secure some funding last year, and we added about 29 customers that needed water for arsenic and lead reasons, and we are in the process of doing another small extension that ties into that,' Riggs added. 'That is going to add another 14 customers, and then this line here which will add a total of about 95 customers ties also the Pennsboro water supply in with Ellenboro, the neighboring town, and gives us a loop so that we can have continuous water if one side or the other goes down.'
Pennsboro officials have stated that the city is already managing over $20 million in grant-funded water and sewer projects, providing a pathway to eventually secure the necessary funds for this expansion project.
'The contamination problem is various things. Personally, methane gas and arsenic and, you know, we had no idea how bad our water was until we had it tested to get a filtration system put on it and then we found out we had methane gas and it could not be filtered,' Highland-Hebron resident Beverly Haynes said. 'We knew it was bad, but we didn't know we had the arsenic problems. I personally knew I had a methane problem.'
Project Manager with The Thrasher Group, Steve Haynes said that the project will be completed in multiple phases. Due to its estimated cost of approximately $8 million, efforts have been made to develop it as a large-scale project.
'We're trying to break this project down into multiple smaller projects that are more feasible to get funded. So, right now, we've got this broken into four projects, one on the Ellenboro side, and then basically breaking it down into three projects on the Pennsboro side.'
The Thrasher Group is also working with both cities on a multi-phase project to develop solutions for delivering clean drinking water to the areas impacted by contamination.
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