'It's been miserable': 180,000 Mississippi residents have no clean running water

Story Transcript

Jeraldine Watts hasn't showered since Sunday.

The 86-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident can't turn on her dishwasher. When she wants to brush her teeth or have something to drink, she has to drive to the store or a distribution centre and wait in a long line in the scorching heat to buy bottled water.

If she's lucky enough to find a case of water left on the shelves, she has to find a Good Samaritan who's strong enough to lift it for her and load it into her vehicle.

"Oh, it's been miserable," Watts told As It Happens guest host Katie Simpson. "I just don't know what's going to happen to the city if it goes on longer than maybe a couple of weeks."

A struggle to live and work

About 180,000 people in and around Jackson have been without clean watersince Monday, when Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a "water system emergency."

Record rainfall and flooding seeped into one of the city's two water-treatment plants, exacerbating maintenance problems that have plagued Jackson'swater system for years,leaving the city without running water.

As a stop-gap measure, crews scrambled to install a temporary pump at the O.B. Curtis plant that broughtthe system back to about about 40 per centcapacity.Even so, there's insufficientwaterpressure to guarantee service citywide, and officials are warning residents that their tap water if they have it is not safe to drink.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden's administration approved an emergency declaration in Mississippi and ordered federal assistance to supplement the state's response. Gov. Tate Reeve called up the state National Guard to assist in efforts to bring relief to the city.

Since then, people have been waiting in lines at distribution sites and jam-packed stores for water to drink, bathe, cook and flush toilets.

Watts was driving home from a hunting trip with her son on Monday when she heard the news. She headed to the store that night to stock up.

"When I got to the store ... there were about 10 cases of water there. I got four and another lady got three and a man got two, and it was gone."

She worries that if things don't get better, she'll have to pack her bags and leave town to stay with family.

The water pressure at James Brown's home was so low on Wednesday, the faucets barely dripped. He couldn't cook or bathe but he still had to work.

The 73-year-old tree-cutter hauled bags of ice into his truck at a gas station on his way to a job after several days without water.

"What can I do? I'm just a pawn in a chess game," he said, on one of multiple trips to and from the store. "All I've got to do is just try and live."

Bobbie Fairley, the 59-year-old owner of Magic Hand's Hair, said she had to cancel five appointments Wednesday because she needs high water pressure to wash chemicals out of hair during treatments.

She's had to purchase water to try and fit in whatever shampoo appointments she can. When clients aren't coming in, she's losing money, she said.

"That's a big burden," she said. "I can't afford that. I can't afford that at all."

Years-long problem becomes full-blown crisis

Struggling through water shortages is nothing new for people inJackson. Residentshad already been boiling their drinking water for the last monthbecause officials said it could cause digestive problems.

A cold snap in 2021 left tens of thousands of people without running water after pipes froze. Similar problems happened again early this year, but on a smaller scale. In 2016, customers were told of high lead levels in the city's water supply caused by recurring faulty water treatment techniques.

I think our water situation should have been a priority long before now. Because you have human lives that depend on fresh and clean water- Jeraldine Watts, Jackson, Miss., resident

State and local officials, meanwhile, are pointing fingers at each other. The governor has alleged the water treatment plant suffered from years of city mismanagement, while the mayor accused the state of being absent from efforts to maintain and update the plant.

But the mayor said on Tuesday that he welcomed the state's help in addressing the issue.

Watts isn't sure who to point the finger at, but says things should never have been allowed to get this bad.

"I don't want to put the blame on anybody because, it's not one person that is responsible for doing everything," Watts said.

"[But] whatever you are elected, appointed to do, you need to do that. And I think our water situation should have been a priority long before now. Because you have human lives that depend on fresh and clean water."

Big problem needs big money

In order to fix the problem, Jackson needs money it doesn't have.

Lumumba said last week that fixing Jackson's water system could cost $200 million US, but Tuesday he said the cost could run to "quite possibly the billions of dollars." Mississippi is receiving $75 million US to address water problems as part of a federalbipartisan infrastructure bill.

The city's tax base has eroded the past few decades as the population decreased. White flight to suburbs that began after public schools integrated in 1970 means the city's population is now more than 80 per cent Black. About 25 per cent of its residents live in poverty.

WATCH | Water in Jackson, Miss., is unsafe to use:

Jackson, Miss., loses access to clean drinking water

2 years ago

Duration 2:10

People in Jackson, Miss., are scrambling to get their hands on bottled water after the citys water treatment facility failed. The water system has had a long list of problems for years, but recent flooding pushed it over the edge.

Watts has faith that officials will fix the problem eventually.

"But how long that will be? Who knows?" she said. "And for the average citizen like me, we can't do anything about it. We just have to pray about it [and] hope we can find water to take care of the necessities."

Written by Sheena Goodyear with files from Reuters and The Associated Press. Interview with Jeraldine Watts produced by Chris Harbord.