Water issues continue in Saltville, VA but leaders say they learned from the past

SALTVILLE, Va. — Water system issues continue in Saltville, VA but with lessons learned since the last major failure, this time, no one lost water.

The latest issue was caused by a bad motor. Once the replacement is installed, this will be the third motor the town has installed over the past year.

Town Manager Cecile Rosebaum told News 5, the belief is an electrical issue is causing all of these motor issues.

“Obviously something is happening so we’re going to ask AEP to step in and do some monitoring for us so we can trace the problem,” Rosebaum said.

Last November, issues at the same pump station caused residents across the town to lose water for more than a week, including Margaret Tuggle.

“The last time was just unfortunate, and I think they got on it and let everybody know before it happened [this time],” Tuggle said.

A positive step forward after residents raised concerns during the last crisis about communication from the town.

“I’m the first one to say we learned a lot from November,” Rosebaum said. “I’m very proud of the fact that we’ve been able to keep the public informed and up-to-date you know as to where we stand with everything.”

Rosebaum says this time, communication has improved. The town has also received support from neighboring localities in Smyth and Washington Counties.

During News 5’s reporting of the issue in November, Smyth County discovered an abandoned project on Highway 107 that eventually provided water to communities in the area that had gone without water for more than a week.

This time, the county was able to step in with shorter notice.

The new motor is set to be installed Friday.