WEIRTON — As part of the ongoing improvements at Weirton’s water treatment plant, a series of switch overs between current and new parts of the system will be taking place over the next few months.

The Weirton Area Water Board is in the midst of a project which will increase the treatment capacity at the water plant from its existing 4 million gallons per day to 8 million gallons per day.

The approximately $40 million project, being performed by contractor Triton Construction, has surpassed the 40 percent mark, according to officials. Substantial completion is scheduled for January.

“Because we have to stay in the water business while we’re building, we have to toggle certain systems on and off in order to continue providing service while construction is going on,” Utilities Director A.D. “Butch” Mastrantoni explained during Monday’s meeting of Weirton Council.

There will be four to five such switches, according to Mastrantoni, taking place from late July into September.

“It is our hope that is seamless and the community won’t even know it’s going on,” Mastrantoni said.

As a matter of being transparent, though, the Water Board will be issuing notices ahead of any such switches, to inform customers of the water system of each scheduled date, what is being switched, and any possible effects.

“Those issues will be posted through all of our normal public advisement programs,” Mastrantoni said.

The Weirton Area Water Board currently offers alerts both through text and email, with alerts also delivered through the City of Weirton’s alert system offering text, email, and voicemail delivery.