Water supply issues in Baltimore's Eastwood neighborhood leaves residents flustered

BALTIMORE - Imagine waking up and not being able to take a shower able to wash your hands.

This is what is happening to hundreds of people and families living in Baltimore's Eastwood neighborhood.

They've been experiencing a number of issues with their water supply since Saturday. 

WJZ spent Wednesday afternoon visiting and going inside of some of the impacted homes. 

"One thing you can't drink so you got to go out and buy water. It is nasty— you don't want to take a bath in it," said Wesley Wilson, an Eastwood Resident. 

"It is frustrating,' said Lynne Mitchell, the president of the Eastwood Residents and Business Community Association. 

Mitchell has lived in the area for almost two decades. 

Neighbors told WJZ that on Saturday they began seeing lower water pressure, no water, and more. 

"So it's been up and down brown water, no water, some water, water upstairs, no water downstairs," said Mitchell.  "It appears now. It changes. It changes hourly, who has water and who doesn't. That's the issue."

Some neighbors say they've reached out to Baltimore's Department of Public Works multiple times for answers and haven't heard anything. 

"It's like we don't exist," said Mitchell. "We have some residents that had to leave their homes because they hadn't had a shower in two days and had to go to work. They don't have enough water to take a shower."

WJZ reached out to Baltimore County District 7 Councilman Todd Crandell to learn more. Their statement wrote:

"My office was made aware of a water pressure issue in the Eastwood Community. We asked County DPW to get updates and information from their city counterparts. Only late today did we get an answer," wrote councilman Todd Crandell.

"This segmented communications approach has always been an impediment to constituent service. This is why I continue to advocate for a regional water authority which would improve service and communications for all residents." 

Mitchell said all Eastwood residents want is transparency and a response to their questions. 

"Is it safe? That's the biggest thing. When will they have water again? Do they need to move out of their homes to take care of their children to be able to pay it to be able to go to work? They're just not sure," said Mitchell. 

WJZ did reach out to DPW, and did receive responses about the water issues in the Eastwood community: 

"Today, the Baltimore City Department of Public Works' (DPW) restored pumping operations at the Colgate Pumping station, and low-water pressure is now improving in the impacted areas of eastern Baltimore City and County," DPW  officials wrote. 

"Over the weekend, the Colgate Pumping Station experienced pumping operation disruptions. To avoid a water outage in the affected areas, DPW redirected water from neighboring portions of the water distribution system, which resulted in low-water pressure in isolated areas of the distribution system. During this period of low-water pressure, the water remained safe to drink."

DPW said their department is testing the system to identify the cause of the disruption to pumping operations at the Colgate Station, which is located on 124 Old North Point Road. They said the root-cause testing may temporarily affect water pressure in isolated areas of the distribution system.

The department also told WJZ, as water pressure levels return to normal, residents who may experience discolored water are advised to run all cold water taps for approximately five minutes or until the water is clear. 

If the discoloration continues, residents can report this to 311 (City) and (443) 263-2220 (County).