CONNOQUENESSING TWP — The temporary shutdown of a church-run water bank which serves nearly 50 families in the Woodlands Neighborhood had people scrambling to find drinking water, but that effort now is back after donations of money and water.

The water bank at the White Oaks Springs Presbyterian Church wasn’t organized more than three years ago when the first gallon jugs were stored in the church.

At the time Pastor Lee Dreyer and church leaders agreed to help after a colleague’s son called asking Dreyer for a place to store hundreds of gallon jugs of water.

He hardly thought the jugs would become a permanent fixture. He wasn’t yet aware of the Woodlands’ problem with drinking water.

“I thought it’d be here for a couple days and we’d move on,” he said.

But more than three years later, the jugs, which cost the bank $1 each, are still there. They are given to nearly 50 Woodlands Neighborhood families every Monday. Most households get 20 gallons each week.

Earlier this year the water bank shut down for the first time after an online crowd funding effort failed to raise enough funds and the water bank ran out of money.

The shutdown, which lasted about a month, sent residents scrambling to find drinking water.

But after donations, the water bank is back open and funded into early 2016 at least, so Dreyer said he’s confident another shutdown won’t happen soon.

The bank also has begun receiving water donations from Giant Eagle in recent weeks. Dreyer is thankful — the 700 gallons of free water represent nearly 2 weeks worth of supplies — but the donations prove their own challenge. The church has no place to store the excess water once freezing weather hits.