Frustration boiling over for residents without water

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    Jackson, Mississippi (WAPT) — Thousands of Jackson residents remain without water as the city works to rebuild water pressure after last week’s winter storms and freeze.

The city has been supplying non-potable water to use for toilet flushing, and thousands of bottles of water were given out over the weekend.

Restaurant owner Monte Agho has been shut down since last week.

“It is hard. I don’t feel for myself. I feel for the people who work for me and depend on me,” Agho said.

Agho’s restaurant, Monte’s Steak and Seafood, sits in an area farthest from the Jackson water supply intake at the reservoir that shut down during the freezing weather. Agho feels much further away from getting answers about when his water will be restored.

“There is just no income. We can’t hear from the mayor of Jackson when the water (crisis) is expected to end,” Agho said.

“We understand our residents’ frustration,” Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said. “I understand that most people don’t care what makes a watch work, they just want it to tell time.”

At a news conference Monday, the mayor said the city is making repairs to broken lines and slowly resuming water pressure from the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant that was damaged by the extended cold last week.

Nearly 25 water main breaks have been reported and businesses like car washes are still operating.

“That is the challenge that continues to take place as we are trying to fill up tanks, consumption is still happening,” Lumumba said.

Dr. Charles Williams, the city’s public works director, said he hopes water service will be restored across the city by the end of the week. Williams said the city may have to bring in outside crews to help restore water pressure. He said the hope is that more of the city’s aging water lines don’t break as the temperatures rise.

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