“We dropped the ball:” Community leaders discuss water infrastructure in eastern Kentucky WEKU
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EarlierthisyearWEKU investigatedhow agingwaterinfrastructureiscausingproblemsforresidentsofeasternKentucky. Inthesecondpartofourseriesonwater,cityandcountyofficialstalkabouthowtheseproblemsimpacttheircommunities andwhatitisliketryingtogethelpfromevenhigherup.
Waterissomethingwealluse,forcooking,cleaning,evenentertainment.Thatwaterhastocomefromsomewhere,andinruraleasternKentucky,water canbesuppliedfrom agingpipesystems thathave beenfallingapartfor sometime.
“Mostoftheoldersystems,theystillhavepipethatis70to100yearsoldintheground,likeoldcastironpipeandit’sjustwornout.”
JoeBurnsistheDirectorofProgramsandOperationsforKentuckyRuralWaterAssociation.Wemetearlierthisyeartodiscusshowthecommonwealth’swaterinfrastructureimpactslocalresidents.Hesaidreplacingthosepipesystemsisnotacheapprocess.
“Trytomakethatpipelastaslongasyoucan,becausewhenyoulookattheprospectofrepl
