Problem Solver: City of Anderson Water Issues Resolved

By Dianne Derby
Anchor
Published: June 25, 2008

Dirty, grimy, yellow tap water. It doesn’t sound like anything you’d want to bathe in and certainly not drink but several families we spoke to in the city of Anderson say they’re tired of the water the city provides and want 7 On Your Side to clear up the issue. Dianne Derby took their concerns to the top in this 7 On Your Side Problem Solver.

Every time Louis and Teresia Gambrell use the water in their Anderson home they hope for the best because what they get is…

“A lot of mud coming out and a lot of grit,” said Mr. Gambrell.

They don’t even want to shower in it.

“If I want to bathe in that I’ll go to the creek,” said Mr. Gambrell.

The Gambrell’s are so disgusted with their water that for years they’ve only used bottled water to drink or to cook. They say they go through about a dozen 5 gallon bottles of water every month at a cost of $120.

Mrs. Gambrell says she tries to use bleach to keep her clothes white but…

“We have a whole lot of his shirts that were dingy that we had to get rid of because they weren’t white anymore,” said Mrs. Gambrell. “Every so often he has to buy another shirt to get it white.”

And they’re not alone. Several neighbors say they face the exact same problems.

“Last week muddy water was coming out,” said neighbor Carolyn Clinkscales."We couldn’t even take a bath.”

So we had Mr. Gambrell fill us up a water bottle to take as a sample to the City of Anderson Utilities Director Jeff Caldwell. He says the city flushed the lines when we contacted them last week. Mr. Gambrell says when the city did that large chunks of rust and dirt came out of the fire hydrant outside their home.

When we showed Caldwell the water bottle and asked if it looked clear to him he said, “That does not look clear to me. We do know that they have a problem and we didn’t know it was this soon and we asked them to call us and we haven’t gotten this complaint.”

We also showed him pictures of the grime that builds up in their bathtub. In response Caldwell said, “There is a problem somewhere internally either in our system or in their system internally.”

He admitted the pipes haven’t been replaced since before 1935 but said they typically can last 70 years. He says the cost to do it would be about $5000 dollars but they had do more tests to figure out the exact source of the problem.

In the meantime Caldwell said his office would conduct bacteria tests on the water and present the results to us. Until they do we’ll keep working to clear up a problem that’s been nothing but a mess.

If you have concerns about your water that aren’t being addressed contact the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Bureau of Water at 803-898-4300.