Unable to shower or wash clothes is becoming an ongoing issue for several Inch Street residents.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A concerned Inch Street resident who wished to remain anonymous, spoke to the Lithgow Mercury about her dirty tap water.
Over the past month she has experienced dirty water running from her taps on countless occasions and described it as "like coffee and smells".
"We had it a couple of weeks ago and then we had it yesterday (Monday, May 4).
"I got home from work and I'm an essential worker.. I'm around people and when I come home I want to have a shower just to wash work off," she said.
She said she received a message from her neighbour who warned her not to do any washing "because the water was disgusting".
"I went into the bathroom and ran the sink and I was just disgusted...
"It looked like coffee, I looked at it and thought oh my gosh," she said.
She said earlier on Monday morning her husband went for a shower in which the water was fine but a few hours later it was brown again.
"I went for my shower and washed my hair and then I looked down and thought 'oh my god, I'm washing in filth'," she said.
The woman said her husband was also a front line worker and with the coronavirus outbreak the first thing they wanted to do when arriving home, was put the clothes in the wash and have a shower.
"We're exposed to everything at the moment, we want to be able to put our clothes in the wash straight away and have a shower.
"I want it to be fixed because there's no way me or my family are going to shower in that," she said.
The woman said the dirty water issue was affecting everyone in the street.
"There's a group house with residents who live with disabilities and they can't even go for showers and are finding it very difficult to deal with.
"We've got people in our street who are nurses, paramedics and other essential workers. When the water goes yuck we are all in the same boat," she said.
She said she had contacted Council about the issue and they had advised her to collect a sample each time the water turned brown.
"Last time they sent an engineer around from Council and they said to my husband that they wanted a water sample of it when the water goes yuck.
READ MORE: Model Bethany Rosewarne's Lithgow connection
"So I got a sample and told them that I've got one and now I've still got the sample and am waiting on Council to get back to me.
"I haven't heard from them since and they haven't sent anybody around to get the sample.
"Now I've just got this disgusting water sample sitting in my house," she said.
The Lithgow Mercury reached out to Lithgow City Council for comment, but have not yet received a response.
Subscribing means more than just website access. Read the print paper online, enter giveaways and more for just $2 a week, cheaper than a coffee. What are you waiting for?
Alanna Tomazin
Alanna is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald with a focus on education. She takes pride in regional journalism which she believes is crucial to informing our towns and cities. Have a story? Email her at alanna.tomazin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Alanna is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald with a focus on education. She takes pride in regional journalism which she believes is crucial to informing our towns and cities. Have a story? Email her at alanna.tomazin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
