COLUMBIA, S.C. — We’re on your side tonight with details on a water issue in the Town of Eastover. Residents contacted News 19 about discolored water two days after the town restored water service after a brief outage.
“This is the water out of the faucet when you’re trying to cook. Yet they’re telling us in Eastover that the water is good," Eastover resident Jennifer White said in a video of water from her faucet on Sunday. "It’s not gonna get clean."
White said this problem continued into Monday with murky brown water running from her faucet.
“This morning no, same thing," White said. "So, I’ve been going, my friend allowed me to go down to her house in Hickory Hill and get some of that well water. That’s what we’ve been washing and cooking with."
According to the Eastover Mayor Phillip Gunter, a car crash on Saturday started the problem.
“Because we got that small pressurized system right now ... someone hit a fire hydrant and caused the whole town to lose water,” Gunter said.
That crash was worse than it would have been in normal circumstances because Gunter said the town is in the process of making repairs to its large main water tower.
That means, for now, they’re on a smaller alternate system.
“The town had to go to a temporary tank," Gunter said. "So, it’s basically a smaller tank operating the town’s water right now.”
While water service was restored quickly, the smaller system doesn’t have as much power to clear debris and dirt from all the water lines. The larger system has more power.
As a result some residents still have brown water.
The mayor said the city is testing the water to ensure its safety and people are urged to boil their water before drinking or using it for cooking until further notice.
The mayor added this water clearout could take anywhere between two days and a week and a half.