ROANE COUNTY, Tenn. — A group of Roane County residents gathered Thursday to voice concerns they've had about water quality and utility costs with the Cumberland Utility Board. After the meeting ended, several who attended called it a disappointment.
Some said the problems have persisted for years, and said they did not expect to see changes anytime soon. They said they tried several times to have the utility board fix the issues, but said nothing has happened.
"We're going to have to go down to the river to get water. We're having to buy all this bottled water and things. Never one time did Cumberland ever reach out or send an email, send out a text, that there was going to be an outage or that we were even in an outage," said one person who attended the meeting.
Other people who attended the meeting said the issues have lasted ever since they moved to the area around seven years ago. They described their water as cloudy and muddy, and one said she got a report that her water had high levels of carcinogens.
"We do not use water from the faucet when we cook. We do not use water from the faucet. Literally, the only thing we use it for is to bathe," said Adrienne Bracket, one Roane County resident. "Answers. I mean, we all just want answers."
Another group of residents said they spent the last 24 hours without running water. Bracket said her biggest issue was a lack of communication from the Cumberland Utility Board about the issues. She said the board made some promises at Thursday's meeting, but now she will wait to see if they're followed through.