Hundreds of tenants at a large apartment complex in Hartwell went four days without water. Residents said there have been several unscheduled water outages in the last few months, but this is the longest they have had to go without water.WLWT’s newsroom tip lines received at least a dozen calls and emails from frustrated tenants over the weekend. They live at the Williamsburg of Cincinnati apartments in Hartwell. Water was at least partially restored Monday evening, but there are still many unanswered questions. “We’ve been out for four straight days,” said Rhonda Berry-Dear, who lives at the complex. “I am concerned about my fellow residents. You’ve got 800 – 900 families on this property.”Most of the residents WLWT spoke with said they have not had running water since at least Friday morning. According to email communication forwarded to WLWT, residents were first notified Friday morning of an “emergency water shut-off” and no ETA when water would be back on. Residents received an additional email on Sunday with limited information and third email on Monday.Multiple residents said they could not get answers about the situation from management and were dissatisfied with the limited updates, even after promised restoration times came and went.”You’re sitting there, you’re waiting, you don’t get anything else. You go, you turn your faucets on, try to flush your toilet, you get nothing,” said William Choate. One cell phone video shows a line of frustrated residents inside the leasing office. “Y’all making people frustrated because we gotta live in here under these conditions!” one woman yelled. As a WLWT crew was at the complex interviewing residents and trying to get answers, a man who identified himself as someone with maintenance and a manager interrupted the interview and instructed the crew to leave the property. “You’re with 5 News right? Hey, I’m with the maintenance here, I’m with the management. We need you to get off our property right now… No, we don’t wanna talk about nothing. We’re gonna call the police. But they need ya’ll to get off the property.”When investigative reporter Jatara McGee asked what the complex was doing about the water issues, he said, “So the fact that you’re still asking me these questions, you think that’s gonna help?”State Sen. Cecil Thomas, who was made aware of the water issues Monday, said his office plans to investigate the circumstances surrounding the outage and how it was handled by apartment management. Thomas said he did not want to rush to judgment but was concerned by management’s lack of transparency and accommodation for residents. “I’m going to have my staff look into it, call the Attorney General’s Office and see who are the actual owners of the property and begin a process of getting some answers,” Thomas said. “This is not a third-world country. This is not a natural disaster. This is a situation where a private owner has a responsibility to the tenants that pay their rent.”Thomas spoke with management Monday evening. He said he was told water was restored to the entire property. Greater Cincinnati Water Works left notes on residents’ doors informing them of a precautionary boil water advisory through Wednesday.After water was turned back on, one resident sent a cell phone video to WLWT showing extremely low water pressure. Another resident said water crews were still at the property late Monday night, working to address the pressure issues.Several tenants believe the outage was caused by a Thanksgiving Day fire and water main break. Management did not confirm that information or respond to any of WLWT’s requests for comment.
Hundreds of tenants at a large apartment complex in Hartwell went four days without water. Residents said there have been several unscheduled water outages in the last few months, but this is the longest they have had to go without water.
WLWT’s newsroom tip lines received at least a dozen calls and emails from frustrated tenants over the weekend. They live at the Williamsburg of Cincinnati apartments in Hartwell.
Water was at least partially restored Monday evening, but there are still many unanswered questions.
“We’ve been out for four straight days,” said Rhonda Berry-Dear, who lives at the complex. “I am concerned about my fellow residents. You’ve got 800 – 900 families on this property.”
Most of the residents WLWT spoke with said they have not had running water since at least Friday morning.
According to email communication forwarded to WLWT, residents were first notified Friday morning of an “emergency water shut-off” and no ETA when water would be back on. Residents received an additional email on Sunday with limited information and third email on Monday.
Multiple residents said they could not get answers about the situation from management and were dissatisfied with the limited updates, even after promised restoration times came and went.
“You’re sitting there, you’re waiting, you don’t get anything else. You go, you turn your faucets on, try to flush your toilet, you get nothing,” said William Choate.
One cell phone video shows a line of frustrated residents inside the leasing office.
“Y’all making people frustrated because we gotta live in here under these conditions!” one woman yelled.
As a WLWT crew was at the complex interviewing residents and trying to get answers, a man who identified himself as someone with maintenance and a manager interrupted the interview and instructed the crew to leave the property.
“You’re with 5 News right? Hey, I’m with the maintenance here, I’m with the management. We need you to get off our property right now… No, we don’t wanna talk about nothing. We’re gonna call the police. But they need ya’ll to get off the property.”
When investigative reporter Jatara McGee asked what the complex was doing about the water issues, he said, “So the fact that you’re still asking me these questions, you think that’s gonna help?”
State Sen. Cecil Thomas, who was made aware of the water issues Monday, said his office plans to investigate the circumstances surrounding the outage and how it was handled by apartment management.
Thomas said he did not want to rush to judgment but was concerned by management’s lack of transparency and accommodation for residents.
“I’m going to have my staff look into it, call the Attorney General’s Office and see who are the actual owners of the property and begin a process of getting some answers,” Thomas said. “This is not a third-world country. This is not a natural disaster. This is a situation where a private owner has a responsibility to the tenants that pay their rent.”
Thomas spoke with management Monday evening. He said he was told water was restored to the entire property. Greater Cincinnati Water Works left notes on residents’ doors informing them of a precautionary boil water advisory through Wednesday.
After water was turned back on, one resident sent a cell phone video to WLWT showing extremely low water pressure. Another resident said water crews were still at the property late Monday night, working to address the pressure issues.
Several tenants believe the outage was caused by a Thanksgiving Day fire and water main break. Management did not confirm that information or respond to any of WLWT’s requests for comment.
