Columbia, SC (WLTX) Residents of the Washington Heights community in Columbia say they've been dealing with dirty water for a while now. E. Vincent Johnson says it looks more like coffee. He tells News 19, "I was just surprised by what I saw in the tub and if that was in the tub then it was already everywhere else. It's already in the icemaker, its already in the diswasher, the washing machine."
Monday morning Johnson called Carolina Water Services operated by Utilities Inc. and posted the video he took on youtube as proof. He says at first he was told no one else complained. He insisted that someone come out. He says, "When one of the technicians looked and saw the video of the water. He said 'I have go ahead and start opening up all these lines.'"
There was some improvement Tuesday, he says, but the water was still not as clear as it should be. He showed News 19 the difference between the water that came out of his tap and bottled water. In our video you can see a major difference between the two. Johnson says, "This is what we get on a great day. A bad day is what you saw on youtube."
Alberta Coin has lived in Washington Heights since 1981 and she says this issue is not new. Shes complained to the company and government leaders on numerous occasions. She tells News 19, "I don't drink it, I don't cook with it. I've been buying water. Since I moved out here 1981."
Johnson says he questions the safety of the water, tellsing us, "Who's to say how many people have been sick. Who's to say how many other ailments people may have had."
News 19 reached out to Utilities Inc. and received this statement. "We are pleased that by working with the support of DHEC and the City of Columbia, we have implemented a solution. In fact, we just completed a four inch supplementary interconnect with the City of Columbia that will end the occasional discolored water concerns, as well as, provide fire flow to the hydrants in the community...
We have just performed the required bacti sampling on the new interconnection, and when they come back good, we will provide to DHEC and request the permit to operate the interconnection."
but residents we talked to say, they will believe it when they see it. Christie Jones is raising her children in Washington Heights and says, "What needs to not happen is for us to get the run around and continuous pointing fingers somebody needs to take care of this."
Johnson says, "The proof is in my pipes and I want to the difference in my pipes, not in a letter."
News 19 reached out to DHEC and they tell us they are working with the utilities to oversee this process from an environmental standpoint. The utility has applied to DHEC for a permit to operate the interconnection. As soon as the utility provides the bacteria results we will move forward with the permit process.
Utilities Inc. tells News 19 that will most likely take two weeks.