Single Mom in Casa Frustrated with Sluggish Water System
By: Marci Manley, KARK 4 News
Updated: September 14, 2012
The water dribbles from the faucet to the drain, not even enough to really thaw the ground beef she has sitting in the sink.
"It's a lot harder. You don't realize the convenience of water until you don't have it," Audrey Arndt said.
For this single mom, doing simple household chores becomes tough without water.
"We've never been able to run the dishwasher or take showers," she said. "It takes about forty minutes to fill up the bathtub enough to bathe. It takes an hour and a half to fill up the washer to clean clothes."
She and her three children moved to their home in Casa in March, and she installed brand new water lines when they arrived. She paid the $85.00 hook up fee and hoped for the best. But she's never had full water pressure. And sometimes, she's had no water at all.
"We actually went seven days without any kind of water," she said. "I called the water department several times. They just kept telling me I had a water leak."
But according to Arndt, she had a plumber check the lines, with no leak to be found. And her neighbors are suffering the same plight. Many of them, though, have dug wells or installed pumps to help with the pressure.
City officials, Arndt said, haven't had many suggestions for solutions.
"I've tried to contact anyone and everyone to see who can fix this situation an ongoing vicious circle," she said.
On Tuesday, she took her concerns to the City Council
"I'm tired of coming home and not being able to take a shower," she told council members.
According to Mayor Alan Harris, industrial demand is swallowing the supply.
"We've got probably 10 million chickens on this water line," he said during the meeting. "We've about limited out on the water we can supply from an industrial standpoint."
Other explanations: the water tank simply gets too low and her location needs a pump to get any pressure.
But Audrey has priced the pump at three hundred bucks, which is a cost she can't afford.
"It's almost an entire paycheck. I live paycheck to paycheck so that's almost out of the question for me," she said. "I paid the same fees to get on the system as everyone else. I should have the same access to water that others on the system do."
But she doesn't. And it seems Arndt's water woes will remain an uphill battle. One she likely won't win for months to come.
"It's a lot harder. You don't realize the convenience of water until you don't have it," Audrey Arndt said.
For this single mom, doing simple household chores becomes tough without water.
"We've never been able to run the dishwasher or take showers," she said. "It takes about forty minutes to fill up the bathtub enough to bathe. It takes an hour and a half to fill up the washer to clean clothes."
She and her three children moved to their home in Casa in March, and she installed brand new water lines when they arrived. She paid the $85.00 hook up fee and hoped for the best. But she's never had full water pressure. And sometimes, she's had no water at all.
"We actually went seven days without any kind of water," she said. "I called the water department several times. They just kept telling me I had a water leak."
But according to Arndt, she had a plumber check the lines, with no leak to be found. And her neighbors are suffering the same plight. Many of them, though, have dug wells or installed pumps to help with the pressure.
City officials, Arndt said, haven't had many suggestions for solutions.
"I've tried to contact anyone and everyone to see who can fix this situation an ongoing vicious circle," she said.
On Tuesday, she took her concerns to the City Council
"I'm tired of coming home and not being able to take a shower," she told council members.
According to Mayor Alan Harris, industrial demand is swallowing the supply.
"We've got probably 10 million chickens on this water line," he said during the meeting. "We've about limited out on the water we can supply from an industrial standpoint."
Other explanations: the water tank simply gets too low and her location needs a pump to get any pressure.
But Audrey has priced the pump at three hundred bucks, which is a cost she can't afford.
"It's almost an entire paycheck. I live paycheck to paycheck so that's almost out of the question for me," she said. "I paid the same fees to get on the system as everyone else. I should have the same access to water that others on the system do."
But she doesn't. And it seems Arndt's water woes will remain an uphill battle. One she likely won't win for months to come.
