Morgantown, West Virginia

The water pours clear and cool. There is a lightly chlorinated odor to it. It is very thin in the mouth. While it has a slight flavor of watermelon rind, it has a nice minerality to it. The aftertaste is particularly bland, but it is overall refreshing and crisp.

During my time in Morgantown, I was an audience to a local hot take–the city did not have enough water towers. How could all this water for all these people come from just that one tower? My answer–I don’t know, but most places just have a single water tower. I have since met a man on my travels who paints water towers for a living. Apparently we have a sufficient quantity to support a niche profession.

Today Morgantown sources 90.5% of their water from the Monongahela River. The rest of it comes from Cobun Creek Reservoir. But before the city turned to the Monongahela, they sourced their water from Tibbs Run. 

Local historian Barbara Howe, who sits on The West Virginia Botanic Garden, Inc.’s Board of Directors, compiled a local history of Morgantown’s water supply. The Botanic Garden has been planted on top of old water infrastructure. 

Howe writes that 1859 was the first year that a municipal water supply entered the public discourse. Nothing was done at the time, so private water suppliers satisfied Morgantown’s thirst. Notably, one successful business was run by a freedman named John Edwards who started in 1865 and hauled water until a larger competitor entered the picture three decades later. 

In 1889, the Union Improvement Company built a dam on Tibbs Run and piped its water to a tank along Deckers Creek near Morgantown. In 1897, they added sand and stone filters and built a pumping station in 1903. It was not until 1935 that the water was treated. 

In 1950, the City of Morgantown formed the Morgantown Water Company to publicly run and provide water. The city turned to the more bountiful supply of water that had previously been avoided due to concerns over pollution–the Monongahela River. This is the source it still uses today.