WEIRTON — The Weirton Area Water Board is taking the first step in updating its water distribution system and answering concerns expressed by the West Virginia Public Service Commission.

During Thursday’s board meeting, members approved a resolution to secure Thrasher Engineering to prepare a preliminary engineering report for the replacement of 147,500 linear feet of existing cast iron and galvanized water lines.

The project is among items ordered by the PSC following its recent investigation into the issues which resulted in citywide boil orders and numerous water outages last winter.

In late July, the Water Board was given 90 days to submit a corrective plan “to address severe water problems and line leakages” as cited by the PSC report.

Among the areas the PSC is requiring the water board to address are a detailed plan on the replacement of cast iron and galvanized pipe during the next five years; a leak detection and repair program; how to achieve a water loss percentage of 15 percent or less; how to resolve violations of Bureau for Public Health standards; and having a process in place to alert customers by text messages and e-mail.

Utilities Director A.D. “Butch” Mastrantoni said the PSC order provides a deadline of Oct. 23, claiming they can submit an outline of the plan while Thrasher staff develops its preliminary engineering report.

“They want a report of a plan, not necessarily the plan,” Mastrantoni said.

In response to a question by board member Joe Paolo about the costs included in the resolution, Jesse Alden of Thrasher noted the resolution adds $100,000 to its current contract with the board in exchange for its services.

“It’s an amendment to our current contract,” explained Alden.

Alden reported he anticipated it would take 120 days to complete the engineering report.

“This is something we can start immediately,” he said.

Among other violations and issues, the PSC indicated the 6,125,000-gallon water storage tank capacity in Weirton is not sufficient to meet the two-day minimum requirements for the city. In addition, the report states approximately 40 percent of Weirton’s water lines are not located below the frost line. Current requirements set a line depth of at least 42 inches, while the water board had, for years, followed a 36-inch depth.

The PSC also has ordered that, for each new customer and once a year for all customers, the water board “shall include in its bills a list of the many modes of access to information the customers will have during major outages or crises, including a number customers can contact to answer question during a crisis.”

The water board initiated a mandatory, citywide conservation order Dec. 18 as a result of several dozen water line breaks. The order remained in place until March 12.

The conservation order was coupled with a series of boil orders during the same period, including one for the entirety of Weirton from Dec. 27 through Jan. 3, and one for the Weirton Heights area from Jan. 23 to Feb. 6.

The PSC opened an examination of the issues surrounding the outages and orders in late February.