PERRY COUNTY, Pa. — Dirty dishes piled up. Buckets scattered everywhere. Faucets with no running water.
That’s the reality right now for many residents of the Orchard Hills Mobile Home Park in Carroll Township.
“We couldn’t flush the toilet bowl, we couldn’t take showers, couldn’t wash dishes,” said resident Kerry Lucas.
Lucas has been without water since Friday, and it’s a similar story for James Black and his family.
“It’s been really tough, and we’ve been getting through it but hopefully they get it figured out soon because I don’t know how long this is going to hold up,” said Black.
Both residents say this isn’t even close to the first time they’ve had this problem.
"We dealt with not having water for Thanksgiving," Lucas said. "How fun is that to try to cook some food when you have absolutely no water? You can get bottled water, but it’s inconvenient and it’s not right.”
“It’s a thing that’s being going on here for a long time. As long as we’ve been living here, we’ve had issues with water,” added Black.
Park management dropped off pallets of bottled water for families to take, but the residents say that’s not cutting it.
“It takes more than that to flush a toilet and do clothes and get baths," continued Black. "When you can’t get a bath and keep yourself clean, it’s really tough right now."
Residents say, besides a letter telling them to boil their water, there haven’t been any answers from park management.
“Nothing, not even a call from the park," said Lucas. "[There was] nothing until we got DEP involved and now finally there’s people out here doing detection."
“They basically tell you they’re trying to do what they can but we haven’t heard anything more than that,” added Black.
FOX43 tried calling and stopping by the office of Country Manor West, the property manager. Neither attempt resulted in reaching a representative.
Workers of a third-party company who were at the mobile park Monday trying to fix the problem tell FOX43 the recent cold snap caused pipes of several homes to freeze and leak, draining the water system for most of the park.
“Give us running water," said Lucas. "We’re not asking for much. It’s something that’s a human right that I deserve in my house."
Officials with Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection told FOX43 late Monday afternoon they believe the leaks have been found and excavation to repair the water lines will begin on Tuesday, February 1st.
Bottled water continues to be provided to all affected residents.