Citrus Heights Senior Mobile Park Confident New Pipe Will Stay Secured To Bring Water Back To Community
CITRUS HEIGHTS (CBS13) —The loud, droning sound of a Roto-Rooter pump truck was a welcomed sight for the Lakeview Village Senior Mobile Park on Tuesday.
Neighbors had been without water a majority of the time since Friday. A neighbor, Norman Reck, told CBS13 at around 5:45 p.m. the water was turned back on in the park. The regional property manager stated that the water coming from the neighbors' tap would be potable water.
Some said that it was a struggle they dealt with for roughly five days.
"You live with it. You can get upset but it doesn't fix a thing," Theron Rorison, a neighbor said.
"You deal with it. I didn't expect it to go on this long. But, it was nice I was able to take a shower last night," Dustin Keene, a neighbor, said.
"A lot of people are upset and we totally understand that," Douglas Grass, regional property manager for the park, said.
Grass told CBS13 that the park's main water line broke on Friday night. The pipe moves and flexes, according to Grass, and, if there's not enough support to hold the pipe down, it can break.
The regional property manager said that it's unclear at this time what caused the pipe to break.
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Grass said that cement bags were placed on the pipe initially to support the pipe and the park was able to turn the water back on for a couple of hours. Neighbors told CBS13 that the water came back on Monday. But, it wasn't enough and the line broke again.
On Tuesday, crews were out installing a new pipe after the latest break. Grass told CBS13 that the park is confident this new pipe and securing it with sand and peat grave will stop it from moving.
Some people living at the park said there have been previous shut off that have only last a couple of hours. They're now wanting all of the pipes to be replaced at the park.
"But it's also frustrating because they need to have a five-year plan or thereabouts and replace the pipes," Keene said.
Grass said that the pipes in the park are at least 40 years old. He told CBS13 that replacing the pipes would come at a great cost.
"We are working on a plan to maybe start getting ahead of it," Grass said. "The pipe in the ground is okay, the PVC. This one wasn't but most of them are."
Neighbors told CBS13 that they've been filling jugs of water to flush their toilets. Some said that the water was brown when it was turned back following the first break.
Some are concerned that it will be the same case after the new pipe is fully installed.
"It will not be potable water that comes out. It will be water that can only be used for the toilets for flushing. It'll be brown water," Reck said.
The park says it sends a notification to every home telling them to run their outside taps to ensure their water comes out clear.
CBS13 asked one of the members of the plumbing crew installing the new pipes what should residents do if the water comes out brown. The crew member advised that neighbors flush out their water system through the outside first and then proceed to turn on other appliances in their homes.
The regional property manager added it could take longer for the water to clear up depending on where someone lives in the park.