In 1889, the Union Improvement Company purchased 210 acres in the Tibbs Run watershed south of Morgantown, an area known for the most reliable and clean water supply nearby, and within five weeks began sending gravity-fed water along Tibbs Run and Deckers Creek into town. The arrival of this water was celebrated, and the company demonstrated its power by sending a stream from a fire plug on Front Street 100 feet into the air; the next day boys directed the hose at the courthouse and over the Patrick Henry statue. Tibbs Run did not supply the reservoir here until 1912, but it served earlier as a public water source. To provide enough water for all residents, Morgantown also drew from the Monongahela River and local wells, piping that water to riverfront works south of downtown. These sources differed in quality, and Tibbs Run water was generally considered better, while well water could be contaminated by seepage from town outhouses and river water was often made brown, putrid, and foul tasting by industrial and farming waste upstream. Dry months could reduce all sources, including Tibbs Run. Improvements included crushed stone and sand filters in 1897 and a new pumping station in 1903, yet residents continued to press for a larger, safer, year-round supply because they feared the existing system could cause a typhoid or cholera outbreak. Water service also carried notable costs: the company paid $200 for the 210-acre tract in 1889, charged $6.00 for 1 - 2 pipes and $7.50 for 3 - 4 pipes that year, and by 1902 no family could be charged more than $21 annually, a substantial amount compared with the average Monongalia County manufacturing wage of $400.68.