The city of Overton has released its fourth boil water notice this year alone, leaving many people asking--will it ever end?
Robbi Young-Carnes is a fourth-generation resident of Overton and says the water issues are nothing new.
"As far back as I can remember, we've had water issues," said Young. "I don't know if it's due to iron ore in the water table, but I know that when my husband and I are married and bought this house in 2005, we immediately had a water well drilled, so whenever the city is without water or low pressure, we are able to function off of our water."
A $10,000-expense isn't feasible for some so other residents have found other ways to manage.
An Overton resident that wants to remain anonymous says their family has lived in Overton for seven years and buys bottled water:
"We've never been able to drink the water, the resident said. "We don't even give the water to our dogs. Every time we run like a bath of water we can't even take baths because the water is so brown. We keep Brookshire's in business with water because we buy at least 15 cases of water every two weeks."
Although the water is not drinkable, residents are still expected to pay their water bill, which has been exorbitant in the past. The anonymous resident says their family, at one point, had to put security cameras up to hold the city accountable.
"I don't know if they're just paying the bare minimum for the repairs or what and putting the rest of their pocket," they said. "A lot of people think they're just putting it in their pocket. We had the blink camera systems set up and we would we had one on the front of the house recording so we could make sure they were stopping and reading our meter to get a correct reading. And half the time they would not stop and read it. They would put a guesstimated amount on our reading."
Mayor of Overton C.R. Evans says the city is doing everything they can, but the issue stem from a lack of funding.
"It's a matter of money," said Evans. "That is the situation and the people are aware of that. They've been pretty patient. I know some, there's some impatience out there, and I can't blame them" says Mayor Evans.
According to Mayor Evans, Overton hasn't been able to qualify for grants due to missed audits with past management.
"We were at one time seven years behind on our audits, which is somewhat illegal, to say the least," said Evans. "We're now down to four. You cannot get grants unless you're auditor up to date."
Mayor Evans says without the funding needed, he does not see a permanent solution in his lifetime.