Check out this article printed in the Coal valley News about the history of Prenter

Prenter’s rich history shadowed by water woes

The year was 1742, and the nation was about to discover coal. The location was none other than Boone County, West Virginia….

We are full of good news in the Coal River Valley!

The barrels and hand pumps for the project were delivered a few weeks ago to Prenter and as of today, we have 102 of the 150 installed at homes all around the hollow. We get more requests from folks everyday. The enthusiasm for the project within the community has been incredible.

Mat and Glen installing barrels

Barbara Sebok and here new barrel. photos by Jen Osha. Click on image For more photos from Aurora Lights

In other news, we have hired Curtis Adkins of Seth (the town at the mouth of Prenter hollow) to be our delivery driver.  With that completed and a clever solution to our problem of the water in the barrels freezing thanks to Lowe’s in Kanawha City we are almost ready to begin water delivery!

We currently have enough funds to cover all the necessary start up costs.  Thanks so much to all who have generously donated to the project.  However, we still need your help to pay the delivery driver’s wages and transportation costs!  We need a little more than a thousand dollars a month to keep the program running.  Any money received in addition to that will be put towards to purchase of more barrels should we run out or to help pay for additional water and hair sample testing for Prenter residents.

The spigot has actually not been turned off. I was there just a day or two ago and it had been worked on. So I am assuming it works during the daylight hours so as not to freeze.

The West Virginia American Water Company has put a water pay station in at the Amazing Grace Fellowship in Seth.  The cost of the water is $0.25 for 125 gallons and the machine only takes quarters.  We have heard reports that the spigot at the Racine Community Center (where we used to get free water) has been turned off, but the pay station is so much closer than Racine that the savings in time and gas more than make up for small cost of the water.  Despite recent move, there is still a pressing need for the emergency water distribution.  Many residents within Prenter are sick, elderly, or without transportation.  Additionally, very few folks have the capacity to haul and store sufficient water to cover their day to day needs.  While we are glad to have our delivery runs shortened some, the pay station is not sufficient to cover the needs of Prenter residents.  We continue to work to insure no one in Prenter has to consume poisoned water any longer.

The Prenter Water Fund would like to express its deep gratitude to the Vivian and Paul Olum Charitable Foundation for its generous donation to the project.  With their support, we have the funds for most of our startup expenses.  However, we still need your donations cover the ongoing costs of the program.   We are moving quickly to get all the material and logistics together and have high hopes of delivering water to folks soon.

As of today, we don’t have replacement water, except for the Racine Community Center water spigot.

Although we are grateful, it is somewhat unhandy for people who are not able to go get it for one reason or another.

Our Boone County Commission and the Boone County PSD have made it clear that clean water is a priority for our county.

They have been trying for several years to get public water to everyone, it could have been 10 years before we were even considered.

However, because of health issues we have been considered next in line for a waterline extension.