Neighbors band together to call for changes to water company

MINT HILL, N.C. — More neighborhoods are joining together and calling for changes to their water company.

This summer, neighbors in Ashe Plantation Subdivision in Mint Hill were complaining about dirty, smelly water and bad customer service that they say is given by Aqua North Carolina.

The President of Ashe Plantation's neighborhood association told Eyewitness News that since then seven other subdivisions have joined forces with them and they're planning to take their complaints to state leaders in a meeting on Nov. 26.

Saturday, a neighbor in one of those subdivisions, Farmwood East in Mint Hill, said frequent water outages is a big problem.

"It was yesterday at 5:30 and the water went out," said Rocky Crowe.

He said it's the second time in just weeks that the water has gone out.

"Whenever it comes back on it is rust colored, reddish in color, it's nasty you don't want to put dishes in it,” Crowe said.

A homeowner in the Pleasant Valley Subdivision, also in Mint Hill, said he was fed up with dirty water full of sediment, eating through water filters. He said a water filter that is supposed to last six months only lasts a few weeks at his house.

Sunday neighbors also said they were having problems with smelly water, bad customer service, and high bills.

"This is not some third world country this is Mecklenburg County and the water quality looks awful," Crowe said.

Tom Roberts, president of Aqua North Carolina, responded quickly Sunday to Eyewitness News and said a water main break caused Saturday's short outage at Farmwood East.

He said he was unaware of any long-term problems there.  He also said he'd be happy to reach out to neighbors and would look into it to see if there are other issues.

They should call customer service if they are still experiencing problems. They have communicated with the same resident today via email as well as two weeks ago.  They were not getting calls.

The company recognizes there are still some problems flushing in the pipes that deliver water to customers. They’ve communicated that to customers.

Roberts also said the company has been working since the summer to repair a mechanical problem that led to water issues in Ashe Plantation.

He said they have made progress and shared that progress with neighbors during a meeting in September and a letter was sent out in November.

Roberts said he was not invited to attend the meeting on Nov. 26.

Roberts said he would encourage customers, if they are having issues with water quality or other issues, they should call the call center at 877-987-2782.

WSOC