UPDATE: A community member confirmed the water was restored Saturday night (January 17); however, they are still advocating for change. Kern Sol News is working on an updated story.
A small community on the east side of Bakersfield is without water due to a broken well and is asking the County to step in and help. Some community members reported not having water since Monday, while others saw their pressure gradually coming to a stop since Christmas.
According to the U.S Enviornamental Protection Agency, the Athal Mutual Water System serves a population of 150 people.
Norma Hurtado is a resident in the Athal community located right next to Fuller Acres. She stated that while the water has been off, they have had to go buy water for their homes, and that it is not fair when they pay monthly for water.
“We’re paying to buy water and stuff like that, which is a little unfair because we pay monthly. December of last year, they went up to $125 a month,” said Hurtado. “But for us to be paying $125 monthly for this, for them to cut off our water just unexpectedly, without any notice, it’s really pretty ridiculous.”
Hurtado said this has been difficult for her family, as not having water affects bathing and keeping the home clean.
“It’s difficult because we can’t bathe, it’s hard to wash dishes to be able to eat. Some of our food is spoiling because we can’t wash our plates, and our pots, and pans to be able to cook the food,” said Hurtado. “It’s just going to work in the morning, try to get some water in a bucket to try to shower. It’s not okay.”
Community members were also frustrated with not being alerted or updated about the water unless they called the water company themselves.
“We don’t even have water to flush the toilet. Nobody told us that we had no water till we called and saw what was wrong, and they said the pump is broken,” said Arturo Estrada, a community member since 2013. “The problem is we are close to two weeks without water.”
Hurtado said it is not fair for the company to be silent.
“It doesn’t seem a little fair for them to just kind of be quiet on their side and let us suffer with no water, especially when we’re gonna continue to get bills,” said Hurtado.
Hurtado stated that community members have also a chemical odor and particles in the water over the last year. She stated she has reported in the past, and a neighbor of hers did on New Year’s.
“The lady said that was the first time she had ever heard about it and that only she had complained, so she couldn’t do anything about it,” said Hurtado.
Hurtado stated that water has a gas smell, and you can see that the water is dirty.
“It’ll smell like gasoline,” said Hurtado. “And then you even see it when you pour in a bowl under the light, you can see the grease in the water. So, I mean, I don’t feel like that’s even good enough for us to be able to shower because that’s what they told us. We can’t drink it, but we can use it for like showering, for cooking… but I mean if it’s heavy chemicals like that in it, then it shouldn’t be okay for us to even use. Like you can smell the odor or you can see it.”
When asked for comment regarding chemicals, both Manny Contreras, the company president, and Angie Guana, the secretary for Athal Mutal Water Company, stated they had not heard any complaints of the water having chemicals odor.
On January 5, the community received a letter telling them to boil their water because of possible health concerns, such as intestinal problems.
Guana stated it was because of the water being cut off and that residents should boil the water before using it once it comes back on. She added that the residents also receive free drinking water.
Hurtado stated that before the water was cut off, they would get four or five 5-gallon jugs of water every two weeks; however, they have already used them.
Contreras stated the company is currently prioritizing working on getting the pump fixed because the families need water. He stated that the water may be on by Saturday night.
Estrada and Hurtado stated that if anyone is willing to help the community by letting them fill up with water, it would be very helpful for them.
