MASON, Tenn. — Some in the Tennessee town of Mason have now gone eight days without water, and there is no timeline for when the town’s water system will be working again, town officials said Wednesday.
The problem started Tuesday, Jan. 16 during the Mid-South's arctic blast, damaging the town’s water system.
“We haven’t had water in a week, and it’s really getting aggravating," 4-year Mason resident Christina Ray said.
The Mason Fire Department has been posting updates on its Facebook page since last week, but some residents say communication is not consistent or complete.
“They would post it up on their social media," Ray said. "But some of us, [as] far as the elderly around here go, don’t have internet. So how they to know, as far as, if there’s a boil notice?”
ABC24 attempted to contact the Mayor of Mason but got no response.
However, we’re told by the Mason Fire Department repairs are ongoing and the water company in Mason, Alliance, has several maintenance crews and contractors working to identify all leaks then the company will turn on water in sections to test the system and check for further leaks.
But as the water remains turned off the people of Mason are turning to each other.
“You really don’t miss your water until you don’t have it," Mason Alderwoman Virginia Rivers said. “We didn’t expect it, but here we are. So now we’re trying to pull together to do what we can for the citizens of Mason.”
Nearly 15 palettes of water this week have been distributed by several churches and organizations from Mason, Covington and Memphis.
“Truly the infrastructure has been bad for years, many years, and this weather just showed how bad it is," Rivers said. “Everybody won’t get water at the same time because they’re trying to turn it on in sections and see where there are leaks so they can try and fix the leaks as they go.”