HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — Houston County's Water Department has more than 50 active water leaks.
One homeowner says she's ready for a permanent fix.
Water, mud, and noise --- those are the sights and sounds of Ruth Wright's front yard.
"Every time they've come out. It's been two to three hours, or maybe four hours," Wright said.
She says since 2013, crews have had to fix leaks at her home four times now. That's because of one water main rupture and also various service line leaks.
"If you keep coming out here and repairing it, like putting a Band-Aid on it, and then once you're fixing it and it breaks again, why not just do the whole thing? It may cost more, but you're spending man-hours and manpower and money to replace it four times, when you put all the money together and you would just fix it one permanent time," Wright said.
Jones said, "Usually, they're distributed throughout the subdivision, but unfortunately, this poor, unfortunate resident had separate events, occur at separate times, right in front of her house."
Houston County's Public Works Department Utility Engineer Brian Jones also says the County Water Department services 500 miles worth of water main lines, and some of those pipes are 50 years old.
"Once you put a water system into the ground, right after that, you start repairing leaks. It's just the nature of the beast. It's like maintaining your car. We will always have to repair leaks. There's never going to be a time where we will have them all taken care of," Jake said, but he says they do have two crews working day and night to fix the leaks.
"Enough is enough. They don't have the help that they need to get it done right away, so you're waiting. There are other emergencies that come up. For instance, they had two breaks last night that were emergency and they're doing the best they can. Nevertheless, as a taxpayer, you want your yard to look good. I just want it done. I ain't trying to be the mean woman. I just want it done right, and not them coming back every six months, year," Wright said.
Jones says one of her service lines is under her driveway. so later, they're moving the pipe to prevent future leaks. They have two separate crews working throughout the county right now, but Jones says they're in the middle of hiring a third crew to help, so he asks people to continue being patient with them.
"The Houston County Water Department strives to maintain reliable service throughout the system and appreciates the patience of its customers," Houston County Community Planner Jake Cox said.