Berkeley Springs Water Works Wants to Pause New Taps, and Lot Buyers Feel It First

"We're maxed out on filtering," Councilwoman Mary Lynn Hickey told the Town of Bath council in August, as the Morgan Messenger reported. At the same meeting, Mayor Greg Schene said there is no water shortage in town. Both statements are accurate. Together they explain why a lot in Berkeley Springs that sits right next to a water main may not be able to get a new connection for a while.

On August 26, 2026, the Town of Bath, which does business as Berkeley Springs Water Works, asked the Public Service Commission of West Virginia to approve a moratorium on its water system. The case is No. 26-0772-W-PC. As this post publishes, the request is still pending. The Water Works committee's October 14 agenda listed a "Water moratorium update and PSC engineer site visit" for discussion. If you're buying land, planning a build, or selling a parcel described as having public water available, this case now affects your timeline.

What the petition would freeze

According to the public notice for Case 26-0772-W-PC, approval would mean "no new customers could be served by the utility" in the Town of Bath, Berkeley Springs and the surrounding Water Works service area until the Commission lifts the moratorium. The notice says it would prohibit:

1. New water-service connections
2. Main extensions
3. Service extensions
4. Material increases in contracted demand that would add load to the system

All four are "subject to any exceptions or procedures established by the Commission." The town has asked for the moratorium to stay in effect until the Commission decides the system can take on more demand without degrading service to existing customers. The request has no end date. It ends when the PSC is satisfied.

Line one is what matters most in a sale. Raw land and new construction depend on getting a new connection. The notice doesn't say how the Water Works would handle an ownership change at a property that is already connected. That gap is why the closing checklist further down starts with a phone call.

The plant is short on hours, not water

A water plant can treat only so many gallons per hour, and it can run only so many hours a day before it has nothing in reserve. Berkeley Springs Water Works is close to that limit. The petition says treatment operations generally run "approximately nineteen to more than twenty hours per day." It also says the system has limited treatment, pumping, storage, pressure and emergency-response capacity.

A September 9 special meeting complicated the picture. According to the committee's minutes, GD&F Engineering told the Water Works committee that the plant's flow meter had been programmed and calibrated incorrectly, and that the raw water pump meters weren't giving accurate readings either. Historical data had shown about 340,000 gallons a day. GD&F now estimates the finished water pumps are producing 600,000 to 750,000 gallons a day, based on a 560-gallon-per-minute flow rate and the plant's actual run times in August.

Those higher numbers might look like a reason to drop the moratorium. The committee minutes say otherwise: "the grounds for the recently filed water moratorium remain because these pumping levels are being achieved while running the plant 18-22 hours per day which far exceeds the PSC's own guidance and is unsustainable." The engineers also said a large main break or a fire could be "catastrophic to the system." The mayor said 25,000 gallons must be held back for fire protection.

Seasonal tourism adds pressure. Town officials had already told Morgan County commissioners they worried about reaching the plant's maximum during the peak summer tourism months, the Messenger reported. In a spa town, the busiest days for the water system are the same days the town is busiest.

The county reads the same system differently

The Morgan County Commission voted unanimously on September 2 to send Commissioner Sean Forney's letter and a request for more information to the PSC in this case, according to the Morgan Messenger. Forney took his figures from the utility's own annual reports to the PSC. Here they are next to the town's:

Run the numbers against each capacity figure. On the town's 500,000-gallon figure, the 2025 peak day of 486,000 gallons leaves about 14,000 gallons of room. Adding the 40,000 to 60,000 gallons of planned demand would push a peak day past the limit. On the 727,000-gallon figure from the annual reports, the same additions fit easily. The dispute comes down to which capacity number counts. The town's case rests on how many hours the plant has to run to reach its output. The county's case rests on the rated figure.

The unaccounted-for line is where the county sees room to fix things. That's treated water that was pumped and never billed, and it rose to about one gallon in five by 2025. The Messenger reported that some of it could come from broken meters or unbilled uses such as fire departments and public construction projects. Forney pointed out that the courthouse meter didn't work for two years. Forney also praised the town: "I think there's a lot they can do, and they are doing and have a wonderful plan in place to correct these things. I give the Town of Bath a lot of credit for their plan." His objection is about what a moratorium signals to outside investors.

Commissioner Bill Clark called it "déjà vu." He recalled an earlier moratorium during a water extension, when the system was losing 60% of its water to leaks that were later repaired. Commission President Joel Tuttle said the town needs a second water source under state code. Six years ago, the county agreed to find a second public water source as part of the water line extension agreement with the town.

Who is already in line, and who may not be

Town officials say two projects already have approval for water hook-ups: a Dan Ryan community of 200 homes near Sheetz, and a Dunkin' near the DMV. Mayor Schene said everyone else who wants new water service will go on a waiting list. Forney's concern is that the 200-home approval and the customers along the two-mile extension are "not carved out" in the petition as filed. Final answers on exceptions will come from the PSC.

The U.S. 522 South corridor is where buyers may feel this soonest. Council approved two construction contracts from engineering firm Thrasher. Pro Contracting won a $4 million bid to build the water line extension toward Tabor Road, and Mid-Atlantic Storage won a $526,000 bid for a water tower on the southern route. According to the Messenger, though, not every property along that extension would get a hook-up during a moratorium, and some owners there have already asked for service once it becomes available. A pipe running past a parcel and an approved tap for that parcel are two separate things.

Fixing the plant is a longer project. The town says the Water Works campus on Wilkes Street needs more room, and it is working to acquire adjacent property for a plant upgrade. The petition says the town will file an engineering evaluation and a more detailed corrective-action schedule when they are ready.

What to confirm before you close

If water service is part of the reason you want a property, here is what to ask Berkeley Springs Water Works directly, in writing if you can:

• Is the property connected now, and is the account active?
• If it isn't connected, has a tap been approved, or is the property on the waiting list?
• How will an ownership change at an already-connected address be handled while the petition is pending, and after any PSC ruling?
• For land along U.S. 522 South, does the extension guarantee this parcel a connection, or only a place on the list?

If you're taking over an account at an already-connected home, the Town of Bath's Water Department page says starting service requires a completed Application for Water Service, valid ID, a security deposit, and a rental agreement or proof of ownership. If you're selling land, a "public water available" line in your listing will hold up better with a note about where the parcel stands on this question. The committee normally meets the second Wednesday of each month at 4 p.m., and its agendas and minutes are posted online.

This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Utility rules and PSC orders change, so please confirm your own property's status with the Water Works and the right professional before you rely on it.

A few questions that come up often

Can the public weigh in? Yes. The notice invites written statements to protest, support, comment on or request a hearing about the moratorium. Send them to the Executive Secretary, Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 812, Charleston, WV 25323, and cite Case No. 26-0772-W-PC.

Has Berkeley Springs had a moratorium before? Yes. The town was under one when leaks kept it from supplying customers, and those leaks were repaired, the Messenger noted.

How big is the system? The Messenger reported that Berkeley Springs Water Works supplies more than 2,000 residential and business customers around Berkeley Springs.

If you're weighing a lot, a build site or a cabin in the Berkeley Springs Water Works service area, Potomac Property Group can help you find out where that property's water service stands before you commit, and we keep following this case as the PSC works through it. Contact us and we'll go over your parcel with you.