CONROE, Texas – One Conroe community can’t catch a break. They’ve been dealing with water issues for months and once again are facing more problems that have now put a dent in their holiday plans.
Due to the freeze overnight Thursday, the electricity went out for most residents in Deer Trail Estates. It wasn’t until late morning many of them had power restored but some had to wait until late afternoon. But when everyone woke up Friday, they discovered there was no water.
“I knew we were going to have issues because this was not the first time this has happened,” explained Courtney Greenup.
Courtney has four children and panicked when she saw she didn’t have running water just a few days before Christmas. She started planning where they could have their Christmas and what their next steps would be. But her main concern still lies with the water plant and the developer of Deer Trail Estates.
“I’m real upset this is something he could have prepared for,” noted Greenup.
She says they were told that a pipe busted in the water building and that a technician didn’t push a reset button on a machine so it all completely froze over.
KPRC called the developer to see what was being done to get the water back on. He said, “We’re trying to defrost. We lost power and it burnt out one of the controls. We have to be careful. We’re doing what we can.”
He called back an hour later to inform us the water was flowing for some residents and the issue was in fact not frozen pipes but a water pressure sensor.
According to the developer, the plant is in the neighborhood and services around 100 homes. It’s not manned by staff and is serviced when needed. About two hours after KPRC 2 started asking questions, the water started flowing again for just some homeowners. Others tell us it was murky and brown. The developer says they are flushing the lines to fix this issue.
But for the Chanceys who also live in the neighborhood, they had to recently buy a filtration system to ensure their water was clean for their children.
“We couldn’t wait for him to get it together,” explained Ashley Chancey.
Ashley says she was not surprised this happened but was even more disappointed.
“I feel like the person that I trusted in providing our neighborhood with water is completely incompetent,” said Ashley Chancey.
So now, Deer Trail Estate families will just hope their water continues to flow through Christmas, although they will have to boil it until further notice.
And despite the stress, some of them are trying to stay optimistic in light of the holiday season.
“It could be worse. It’s not the end of the world.”