PHILIPPI — On Friday, Jan. 10, the City of Philippi, as well as its water service associates–Central Barbour PSD, Chestnut Ridge PSD, and Century Volga PSD — issued a Water Conservation Notice on social media.

The notice stated, “Due to persistently low temperatures, the city’s water intake was unable to draw water from the river for over six hours last night, preventing us from supplying water to tanks throughout the system. As a result, water levels in all tanks have significantly decreased and we are currently not gaining in our tanks because demand is greater than our current supply.”

The notice was lifted two days later, on Sunday, Jan. 12, after the city had time to replenish the water supply. In earlier years, the city had been challenged with ice build-up at the water intake, but with demands low it wasn’t of great concern at the time, and the situations were resolved without having a Water Conservation Notice.

However, over the years, the demands started to rise and this year the city couldn’t pump sufficient amounts of water for several days.

Despite the issues employees have dealt with, the City of Philippi on Sunday assured customers “the City is actively working on projects aimed at improving water production efficiency, reducing the need for continuous pumping, and ensuring a more stable water supply for everyone.”