Berkeley water named best in state

October 30, 1997

By DON AINES

Staff Writer, Martinsburg

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Berkeley County has the best rural water system in all of West Virginia.

And it tastes great, too.

That was the conclusion of the West Virginia Rural Water Association, which presented its Water System of the Year Award for 1997 last month at its convention in Canaan Valley, according to Berkeley County Public Service District General Manager Dan Campbell.

Chairman of the Board Ruby Kern told the Berkeley County Commission Thursday that the county's water ranked third in a blind taste test at the convention. She said about 30 water systems out of more than 220 in the state submitted samples for the contest.

The water system award has been given out for about a decade, according to Campbell. It was the first time the PSD earned the honor, he said.

Howard Collins has been on the board of directors since the PSD was formed 43 years ago. He recalled Thursday how its first meeting was held around a picnic table and there were no paying customers. The district had to get commitments for 500 paying customers before it could secure an $810,000 federal loan to start up the system that now serves about 5,100 customers.

Campbell also made a funding request for two new pumps at the Baker Lakes Quarries, which is used as a backup source of water during droughts. The pumps transport the waters about four miles to the district's Bunker Hill filtration plant.

After the meeting with the commission, Campbell said buying and installing the pumps would cost close to the $10,000 the county has budgeted for water system improvements this year.

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