People In Rural Adair County Angry After Months Long Water Problems

People in Adair County are angry and demanding a fix after they say their water service has been off and on six months.

They say it’s getting to the point where it’s hard to go about their daily lives, but the rural water board says it’s doing all it can.

Rod Garman and his wife own an event center in Watts.

They say with the water going off and on unexpectedly, it’s caused some problems for their business.

Garman says they’ve spent hundreds of dollars to bring in bottled water for events because they’re worried the water will shut off without warning.

“It has been very challenging for us, in order to haul water here and get something so all the party is taken care of,” said Garman. “It’s very tough, it’s very tough on all the businesses, not just ours.”

The hundreds of people who use water from Adair County Rural Water District Number Five are having the same problem.

“We work all day long, we work 12 or 13 hours a day, people want to come home and take a shower, clean up, eat supper, and go to bed,” said Garman. “Well, that’s not the case here.”

The rural water district says it all comes down to the fact that there isn’t enough water supply for all the people who live there, and the treatment plant shut down recently.

Although the treatment plant is now fixed, the board says some of the water facilities are more than 30 years old.

Board members say they’re doing all they can to fix the problem, because they’re all without water too.

“The gentlemen who are on the board have been down here working nights and weekends, I’ve been working in the office helping nights and weekends, donating our time to try and help the community, so, it’s not going to be an easy fix,” said Vickie Hanvey, who is a member of the board.

Hanvey says she’s trying to get money to fix it and the district is working with consultants to try and develop a long-term solution.

“I’ve been working to apply for some grant funding, we’ve pretty much multifaceted tried to address all of the ongoing issues at once,” said Hanvey.

Garman understands the board is working hard for a fix, and hopes they can get some outside help from other groups.

“No matter who steps in, it’s not going to be a 30, or 60, or even 120 day fix, it’s a major problem and there’s a lot of issues that are going to have to be addressed, and that’s not going to happen overnight,” said Garman.