WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — A Warner Robins man said he's "disappointed" the city didn't tend to his water problems after he's been reaching out since August.
When 13WMAZ reached out to the water department for answers, they responded with a work order filed a few minutes after I called.
"Imagine knowing this is there, and you're getting a glass of water and you don't have anything filtered in your house," Andrew Orsak said. "I wouldn't drink this. I wouldn't bathe in this."
Orsak told us we were his last hope to get some clean water.
"I believe this all started around August or September timeframe," he recalls.
The problem developed over time but got worse as months went by.
"If I wasn't filtering the water, all of that would be going into my water heater, my house and into the water that we drink," Orsak said.
According to the city and most homeowner associations, the water meter box is the boundary line.
That means: if the issue is on your side of the meter, it's your problem. If it's on the Warner Robins' side, then it's the city's responsibility to resolve the matter.
Orsak ordered a 4.5” x 10” filtration unit which he says filters all of the water coming into his home.
"They are 6-month filters," he said. "Lately, I have been changing them out at 90 days, at a cost of around $70.00 for the pair. The picture is what’s filtered out of our drinking water that we pay for at 90 days."
In Orsak's case, he says he replaces the filters every three months because they get so backed up with sediments.
Orsak showed text messages and emails exchanged between him and the city dating back to August.
"No one at the water department seems to care," he said, because no one followed up with him about his problems.
As a result, the retiree says, he's just been dealing with it.
"$70 dollars every few months is $70 every few months," Orsak said.
When 13WMAZ reached out to the water department this morning at 9:21 a.m., they said they had put in a work order for Orsak's water issue.
Later in the day, at 1:25 p.m., water supervisor Joey McDuffie shared a copy of the work order issued for Orsak's home.
According to the timestamp, it was entered at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 15.
"Months later," Orsak said. "I feel like we were ignored."
The last time we reported to the water department was the day before Halloween.
On Oct. 30, McDuffie said they were backed up on orders and short-staffed, an issue they've been dealing with since the pandemic.
"I would've felt better over the last three months if somebody said you know we're short-handed, we've got your work order in, somebody should've at least come out and looked at this and made contact with me," Orsak said. "It just got completely dropped."
McDuffie said he will replace Orsak's line next week, but can't say with a 100% guarantee it will fix Orsak's problem, "but it will make sure he has a new line from the main to his meter on the city's side."
The water supervisor added he is six people short of staff and "do all we can every day and we have even worked some overtime to do our best to get more done."