Konawa's Water Woes On The Mend

The Seminole County city of Konawa is still under a state of emergency three days after a water leak caused the town to go dry.

The water is slowly being restored to homes and businesses, but the city may still face some problems. People have been surviving off of water tanks outside city hall as the precious resource slowly makes its way back to faucets.

For three days now, Konawa resident Janet Mullins has been getting by filling up containers for an uncertain future.

11/26/2012 Related Story: Officials: Konawa Residents Could Be Without Water For Days

"I live on the west side of town," Mullins said. "It's always the last place to get water."

Water has now been restored to some of Konawa's 1,400 residents, but the pressure is still low. It's a different story at the Mullins' home where not even a drop of water would come from the kitchen faucet.

And the mayor wants everyone to be cautious of city water.

"I would boil it because it has been down for a while," Mayor Virginia Simms said. "It's probably not safe to drink it right out of the faucet."

Nearly all of Konawa's 50 businesses are closed. No money is being made and all of the employees at most locations are temporarily out of work."

"I hope [the city is] doing all [it] can," Konawa resident Susie Jones said.

10/27/2012 Related Story: Konawa Residents Get Help After Being Without Water Since Sunday

Residents say the city's water woes have been an issue for years. They are hopeful that this time around, pipes dating back to 1938 will be replaced.

"They need to really do something with their water system," Mullins said. "It seems like we're out of water every other month."

In an emergency meeting Wednesday night, city leaders took questions from taxpayers and urged them to conserve as much water as possible.

The city says the problem started with a leak from a pipe connected to nearby wells. In order to get the system where it needs to be, the city says it could cost more than $5 million.

The city says there have been no emergency calls for ambulances due to the lack of water.