West Virginia American Water and Town of East Bank Reach Agreement on Water System Acquisition

West Virginia American Water and the Town of East Bank have reached an agreement that will allow West Virginia American Water to purchase the town’s water system and provide safe, reliable drinking water to its customers.

The Town of East Bank, which serves approximately 395 customers along Rt. 61 in Kanawha County, has struggled to maintain adequate service to its customers in recent years. The town’s water system needs substantial infrastructure upgrades, with the system historically experiencing approximately 60 percent water loss through leaks.

West Virginia American Water will acquire the Town of East Bank’s water distribution system and establish an interconnection between the company’s water lines in Kanawha County and the town’s water system. According to the agreement, the Town of East Bank has determined that it is in the best interest of its customers to sell its distribution system to West Virginia American Water, and that customers will benefit by receiving more reliable water service as a result of improved operation and maintenance of the system and investments by the company. West Virginia American Water recently acquired the neighboring Town of Glasgow’s water system under similar circumstances.

"I saw what happened to the Town of Glasgow, and I never want our citizens to suffer because we can’t maintain or respond quickly to issues with our water system,” said East Bank mayor Charles Blair, II. "Currently, we are fixing leaks as they occur, but we are not actively investing in preventative line replacement.”

Under the agreement, West Virginia American Water will make needed investments in the town’s water distribution system to reduce leakage. Upon closing, the company will own and operate the water lines as part of its Kanawha Valley water system, at which time the company will begin replacing aging infrastructure and installing new water meters. All customers currently served by the town will become customers of West Virginia American Water at the time of close. The proposed agreement requires the approval of the Public Service Commission.

West Virginia American Water, a subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water services to approximately 565,000 people. With a history dating back to 1886, American Water is the largest and most geographically diverse U.S. publicly traded water and wastewater utility company. The company employs more than 6,800 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related services to 15 million people in 46 states. American Water provides safe, clean, affordable and reliable water services to our customers to make sure we keep their lives flowing. For more information, visit amwater.com and follow American Water on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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