From NewsChannel 9: RHEA COUNTY, Tenn. — Some residents in Rhea County have had 5 water related issues in just the last 6 weeks. They
From NewsChannel 9: RHEA COUNTY, Tenn. — Some residents in Rhea County have had 5 water related issues in just the last 6 weeks.
They say it’s because of their water company, who tells us that ownership of the business is in limbo right now.
Three of those issues were full outages, leaving residents unable to use their sink, shower, or toilet.
One resident, Carol Rials, keeps several jugs of water in her garage for when the water stops flowing.
Rials and other neighbors say the problem is their privately owned water company, Newport Resort Water System.
Another neighbor, Kendall Smith, says that when he tries to call the company for help, he can’t seem to get through to management.
“You can wake up, get ready to go to work and go in there and there’s no water, or you could be in the shower, and then the water just stops,” says Smith.
Newschannel 9 reached out and contacted Bridget Willhite, a court appointed attorney who is overseeing the company.
She says the previous owners of the company passed away, leaving them to take responsibility until they can find new ownership.
“There’s no employees of this water system. It’s just a family that’s been operating for years” says Willhite.
Willhite is hopeful that Rhea County Utility District can take over the company with a lease, in order to provide consistent service to residents until Newport Resort Water System can be sold to another private utility company.
Residents like Smith hope the transfer in ownership happens soon.
“We just want somebody to take it over. And it ain’t about money. It’s about getting people their water,” says Smith.
We reached out to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation about this issue, and they say…
“TDEC is aware of the ongoing issues with the Newport Resort Water System, which is a privately operated system. Following a leak that caused the system to lose pressure, a precautionary boil water advisory was issued on Sept. 18. The operators are working to repair the leak and reestablish pressure. Once pressure is reestablished, the operators will collect water quality samples in the distribution system to document that disinfection is adequate and the advisory can be lifted. TDEC has been and will continue to work with the system to address their issues moving forward.”
