Where does drinking water come from?

According to the 2020 census, Harlan County has a population of 26,831 living in a total of 10,370 households, served by 17 public drinking water systems (PDWS), of which 15 are Community Water Systems (CWS), one is a Non-Transient Non-Community Water System (NTNCWS) and one is a Transient Non-community Water System (TNCWS). 

Community Water systems (CWSs)  provide water year-round to the same population. Examples of CWSs are Benham Water Works, Black Mountain Utility District, Cawood Water District, Cumberland Municipal Water System, Evarts Municipal Water System, Harlan Municipal Water System, Wallins Creek Water System and Lynch Water System. 

Pine Mt. Settlement School in Bledsoe is an example of a  Non-Transient Non-Community Water System (NTNCWS), as it provides water to the same people for at least six months out of the year. 

Kingdom Come State Park is an example of a Transient Non-community Water System (TNCWSs). This type of water system provides water to areas where people stay for short periods of time.

Source 

Kentucky Infrastructure Authority, Drinking Water Branch - Water Systems.

Over time, the exact number of public water systems fluctuates due to changes in infrastructure or administrative mergers. That is why it is a good idea to seek the latest information on your water system.

A good resource for finding the water utilities that serve your area is the WRIS System Data Portal of the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority. You can find a list of Drinking Water Systems in Harlan County, here.

See the Resources pages in the sidebar for a directory of water providers and water treatment utilities in Harlan County. When seeking information on your water system, always check when it has been last updated.

In Harlan County, fifteen (15) of the seventeen (17) water systems are fed by surface water or are purchasing it from another water system. Only two (2) of them are fed by groundwater that is under the direct influence of surface water (GWUDI).  

The main water sources feeding Harlan County's community water systems are the following: 

• Looney Creek is the water source of Benham Water Works. In 2023, this district served 403 households in Harlan County. The water treatment plant has a capacity of 300,000 gallons per day. On an average day the plant produces approximately 130,000 gallons of clean water. The storage capacity is approximately 307,000 for their 2 water tanks and 130,000 for their clear well. 

• Martins Fork Lake is the water source of the nearby Cawood Water District. The system currently serves 881 residential, 8 commercial and 1 industrial connections . The system has the current capacity of 500,000 gallons per day. On an average day the plant produces 150,370 gallons of water per day. The total storage capacity of the plant is 400,000 gallons of water in their 3 water tanks and 75,000 gallons for their clear well. 

•  The Poor Fork of the Cumberland River feeds the Cumberland Municipal Water System. The system currently serves 1,157 residential connections.  The system has the current capacity of 1,000,000 gallons per day. On an average day the plant produces 550,000 gallons of water per day. The total storage capacity of the plant is 1,375,000 gallons of water in their 6 water tanks and 550,000 gallons for their clear well. 

• The Poor Fork of the Cumberland River is also the water source of the Harlan Municipal Water System. This system currently serves 1,118 residential, 369 commercial, 2 industrial, and 13 institutional connections . The system has a capacity of 2 million gallons per day. On an average day the plant produces 1.1 million gallons of water. The total storage capacity of the plant is 1,310,500 gallons of water in their four water tanks and 175,700 for their clear well. 

• Wallins Creek Water acquires water from three (3) wells and purchases water from Harlan Municipal Water Works. This system currently serves 366 residential and seven institutional connections, and  has a trade agreement with Harlan Municipal Water Works customers, who are serviced by a master meter owned by Harlan Municipal Water Works. On an average day the plant produces 20,000 gallons of water.

• Three (3) nearby wells, one (1) mine and the Clover Fork River are the water sources of Evarts Municipal Water Works. The system currently serves 556 residential, 50 commercial and 3 institutional connections.  The system has a current capacity of 750,000 gallons per day. On an average day the plant produces 165,000 gallons of water. The total storage capacity of the plant is 150,000 gallons of water in their one water tank. 

• Black Mountain Utility District purchases 140,000 gallons of water per day from Harlan Municipal Water Works, Cawood Water District, and Evarts Municipal Water Works. The system currently serves 1,045 residential, 4 commercial, 1 industrial and 1 institutional connections.  The system has a current capacity of 144,000 gallons per day. On an average day the plant produces 31,000 gallons of clean water. The total storage capacity of the plant is 310,000 gallons of water in their 4 water tanks and 7,000 gallons for their clear well. 

• Green Hills Water District is fed by one (1) cold spring and purchases water from Pineville Water System, and Harlan Municipal Water Works. The system currently serves 456 residential and 2 commercial connections.

• In the extreme northeastern part of the county, the Big Looney Creek and a local coal seam feed Lynch Water System. This system currently serves 437 residential, six (6) commercial, and seven (7)  institutional connections.  The system has a current treatment capacity of 1.2 million gallons per day. The total storage capacity of the plant is 550,000 gallons of water in their two water tanks, and 92,000 for their clear well.

The well you are drinking water from can be public or private. Private wells are owned  by a household, or a cluster of households and water quality is solely the owner’s/ owners’ responsibility. To access fresh water, you have to dig a hole on private property and draw water from an underground stream or aquifer using a pump. Depending on how deep you have to go to reach water, a hole can be shallow (up to 25 feet deep), or it can be deep (more than 25 feet). 

In Harlan County, most wells drilled in valley bottoms and hilltops (3 out of 4) are adequate for domestic supply, while a smaller percentage of water is adequate for domestic supply when drilled from mountaintops (1 out of 3). Wells drilled 200 feet or more below the level of the principal valley bottoms may yield enough water to supply a small municipal water system, and only a few wells drilled less than 300 feet will yield salty water. An exception is the small corner of the county, north of Pine Mountain, where salty water can be found in less than 200 feet below the principal valley bottoms. Yet, wells drilled in the Pine Mountain area that reach limestone may yield several hundred gallons per minute. 

For some areas, especially those not served by a public water system, private wells are the best solution for household water, or they may even be the only solution. Traditional local-based knowledge on where and how to dig a well has been passed from generation to generation. Compared to public water systems, private wells provide drinking water with no water bills, while the electricity bill for running the pump is less. However, there are maintenance costs and water treatment costs e.g. related to desalination of water well. 

Did you know that the Kentucky Geological Survey at the University of Kentucky has created an interactive map of water wells and springs in Kentucky? To navigate this map, see University of Kentucky, Kentucky Geological Survey, “Kentucky Groundwater Data Repository: Water Well and Spring Location Map”.

Sources

• Kentucky Geological Survey - University of Kentucky, Groundwater Resources in Kentucky. 

•  Hygnstorm J.R., Woldt W., Skipton O.S. (2012). Private Drinking Water Wells: The Distribution System. University of Nebraska- Linkon Extension. Institute of Agricultures and Natural Resources. 

• EPA, Private Drinking Water Wells.

• Pelle D., (2022). “What is Private Water Well? (Everything you Need to Know!”.

A well water supply system is composed of

•  a well, the hole dug in the ground to reach water below the surface (to the aquifer or water table), 

• a well pump , which is installed in the borehole and brings water to the surface, 

• A  well casing, which prevents dirty water from the soil from getting into the well. 

• a service pipe, which carries water between the well, 

• a pressure tank: the pressure tank holds water and it is usually located on the lower level of the house (e.g. in the basement). Water can also be stored in a reservoir called a vault. 

• The well water supply system also includes a main shut-off valve, which is located between the well and the pressure tank, 

• a pressure switch that automatically starts and stops the pump at predetermined pressures. Pressures above 60 PSI can harm your supply pipe. 

• (optionally) a pressure gauge, which displays a readout of the pressure of the tank. 

TIP: If you are not sure whether there is a well on a property, look for signs; look for a circular ring in a  concrete slab, or a patch on a basement floor. In some cases there will be a “basement offset,” a small room off of the basement, which is sometimes under steps. 

Sources

• Pelle D., (2022). “What is Private Water Well? (Everything you Need to Know!”). 

• Farrel-Poe K., Jones-McLean L., McLean S., (2011). Private Water Well Components. The University of Arizona. 

Then you are probably drinking water from a spring, or surface water or rainwater collected in reservoirs, cisterns or other water ‘buckets’. Actually, a study of the University of Kentucky in 2005. found that in Harlan County 17 out of 100 people (17% of the population) are not drinking water from a public water system or a private well. 

Appalachia is home to numerous highly valued natural mineral springs. In Eastern Kentucky, some of the most productive springs are found in Harlan County, along Pine Mountain.  A spring can be  ever-flowing, seasonal, or may only flow after periods of rain, and may change over their lifetime. Springs are found at the side of hills or on valley floors, where aquifers are filled to a point that the water held underground flows out onto the surface. There are two common types of springs; 

• Concentrated springs typically occur when groundwater emerges from one defined discharge in the earth's surface. 

• Seepage springs occur when shallow groundwater oozes or "seeps" from the ground over a large area and has no defined discharge point. 

Many Harlan County springs flow through and out of limestone rock. Limestone springs can yield more than 50 gallons per minute (gpm), but typically they yield less than 10 gpm. However, in Harlan County, as in other (until recently) coal mining counties, many of the valuable springs are in a degraded state, with polluted streams and groundwater, large-scale timbering, and a century and a half of coal mining. So, when drinking water from a natural spring always remember; when it looks clean, it doesn’t mean that it is clean! 

Cisterns, like wells, are human constructions. The idea of storing water  can be traced back to the Neolithic ages; for more than 5.500 years now, cisterns have been used to store spring or stream water for domestic and agricultural use. Archaeologists are also finding cisterns under ancient cities, which were used for human and animal consumption, as well as in case of fire emergencies. When cisterns are open-air, they are also used for storing rainwater runoff, which is mainly used for irrigation. A modern application of this ancient technology are the reservoirs and dams used to feed public water systems. 

See also, “What are some things to know and consider when drinking water from a spring?”, 

“How can you take care of a natural spring?”

Sources

-U.S. Geological Survey, Springs and the Water Cycle. By Water Science School.

_PennState Extension, Spring Development and Protection”. Updated January 10, 2023. 

- Mays L. et al. (2013). “History of Water Cisterns: Legacies and Lessons”. In Water. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/5/4/1916

- Wikipedia, "Cistern"

Access to water, sanitation and hygiene is a fundamental right. Yet, millions of Americans have enormous difficulties accessing safe and clean drinking water. In Harlan County communities, access to safe and clean water is among the most commonly recognized challenges facing their aging, underfunded, and inadequately maintained public water systems. 

It is estimated that all over the U.S., more than 80% of the wastewater resulting from human activity is dumped into rivers or in the sea without any kind of water treatment, contaminating the already scarce fresh water sources, surface and groundwater. Central Appalachian communities, including those in Harlan County, are facing water pollution related to long legacies of coal mining, or present-day resource extraction activities, such as fracking and intensive agriculture. 

Water treatment is the process of obtaining clean and safe water. This process is becoming more and more necessary for public water systems as well as for private water systems, due to water pollution, but also due to more and more frequent water shortages and extreme flooding events that can further exacerbate water pollution.  

See also, “What stresses water and wastewater systems?”

Source

Acciona, Water Treatment. 

There are various ways of treating water, depending on the water source feeding a community water system -if it is groundwater or surface water-, the properties of the water supplied and final use. For example, surface water typically requires more treatment and filtration compared to groundwater. There are also various types of water treatment, such as physical, chemical, physiochemical, or/and biological treatment of drinking water. 

In general, what happens during the  water treatment process is that water is piped from the water source and transported to a treatment plant, where it is filtered and disinfected to remove debris and bacteria. The steps that are usually involved in the process of drinking water treatment are;  

• The first step is screening and straining to  remove large debris such as leaves, sticks, and trash. 

• Then comes coagulation and flocculation which involves adding chemicals to the water that cause small particles to stick together into larger particles called flocs. These flocs are then removed through sedimentation and clarification.

• The next step is filtration which removes any remaining particles that are too small to be removed by sedimentation. 

• Finally, the water is treated with disinfectants such as chlorine or chloramine to kill any remaining bacteria or viruses before it is distributed.

The public water system may store the treated water in holding tanks. Ultimately, the water is pumped to your household or business, through water mains, which are large, buried pipes, and water lines, which are smaller pipes.

Sources

CDC, “Water Treatment”

EPA, “How does your water system work?”. 

RCAC, A Drop of Knowledge 

Different sources of water lead to different treatment needs. For example, water drawn from groundwater, not yet naturally filtered, has different treatment needs compared to rainwater collected or water coming from a well or a spring. There are many different treatment options, and no single treatment type will protect you against all problems. 

Common reasons for a household to use a water treatment unit -even if their water comes from a community water system- is the removal of specific contaminants,  to improve the taste of drinking water, or because you may have a household member with a compromised immune system.

A household or well water treatment system can be installed at the point-of-use (POU) and/or the point-of-entry (POE) to a residence. Point-of-use systems are typically installed under a kitchen sink or directly attached to a tap or faucet. Common types of household water treatment systems consist of: 

• Filtration systems: devices that remove impurities from water by means of a physical barrier, a chemical and/or a biological process. Different filtration systems include microfiltration, ultrafiltration and nanofiltration. 

• Water softeners: devices that reduce the hardness of water. Typically, a water softener uses sodium or potassium ions to replace calcium and magnesium ions, which create “hardness” in water. 

• Reverse osmosis systems: systems that reverse the flow of water in a natural process of osmosis, so that water passes from a more concentrated solution to a more dilute solution through a semipermeable membrane -a membrane that works like a tea-bag; that is, a thin barrier that separates the water with few solutes dissolved in it, from the water with a higher concentration of solutes dissolved in it.  Pre- and post-filters are often incorporated along with the reverse osmosis membrane itself.

• Distillation systems: systems that distill impure water by boiling water and collecting the stream in a separate container, leaving many of the solid contaminants behind.  

• Disinfection systems: a physical or chemical process in which pathogens are deactivated or killed. Examples of chemical disinfectants are chlorine, chlorine dioxide, and ozone. Examples of physical disinfectants are ultraviolet light, electronic radiation and heat. 

TIP: Before deciding what is the right household water treatment system for you and your beloved ones, contact your local health department’s environmental health group or the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791 for consultation. For more information on how to select your household water treatment system, consult: 

• Selecting a Household Water Treatment System (NSF International)

• Water & Health Series: Filtration Facts [PDF – 7 pages] (EPA)

Sources

CDC, Well Treatment

—, Drinking Water Treatment for Household Use