MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Folks and businesses in Milledgeville may finally be able to turn the tap on as water service is slowly returning.
The city says it'll take time for water pressure to normalize.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people were still picking up drinking water. 13WMAZ’s Jessica Cha spoke with people about how they're coping with a dry week.
"I think I speak on behalf of the whole city of Milledgeville when I say 'We're tired of this,'” says Anna Whiteside.
She’s just one of hundreds of folks picking up drinking water at the county’s government building.
Whiteside says she's lost water 10 times in her eight years in town.
“It has happened much more frequently than you would think for a town that has resources, like we do, but they just aren’t using them– apparently– for water,” she says.
Whiteside says her family has been trying to conserve water as the city has asked.
"By not doing laundry much, or not doing the dishwasher much, by taking shorter showers,” she explains.
Whiteside has had low water pressure in her home, but never fully lost it. She knows not everyone is as lucky.
"Which is why we're trying to conserve as much of it as possible in our house."
The city says water is slowly returning to people's homes like Janice Butts’. She hasn’t had water in the past four days.
Butts says she's tired of going through this problem time and time again
"Can’t shower, couldn't cook, couldn't do nothing.”.
Butts says her son picked up water for her, but they've been buying bottled water for days.
"People got to drink water, you've got to bathe your children, you got to wash your face and hands. It's only so far that bottled waters can go,” she says.
However, Butts says she feels worse for her grandchildren who have to go to school during this.
"I have to take bottled water, boil the water on the stove, and let the kids do the bird bath,” she explains.
They've stuck with easy-to-cook foods – not being able to go out and eat every day and not wanting to waste bottled water.
“Don’t nobody want to eat no hot dogs and baloney every day! We want to eat some real food!"
Butts says she knows a lot of elderly folks in her neighborhood have no access to transportation, like herself. She says they cannot live if the water continues to go out.
"Especially since we had to go through before Christmas. That was like a whole straight week, and now we're going through it again,” Butts says. “I understand it takes time to get the stuff fixed, but go ahead and get it done so we don't have to keep going through this!”.
This is the fourth day of water problems, which the city blames on a failed pump at a treatment plant.
The city has issued a citywide boil water advisory.
They planned to install a portable pump and they say it will likely be up and running Friday.