FONDA, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- People in the Village of Fonda are still under a water advisory. It has been in place for more than two weeks. NEWS10 reporter James De La Fuente spoke with homeowners, business owners and local officials about their water woes and the impact it’s had.
“When I flush the toilet, it was brown. It turned like yellow, really yellow. You see now I'm getting that nice blue color again,” said Fonda Village resident David J. Hopkins. He says when he discovered discolored water in his home, he knew things weren’t flowing right. He showed the NEWS10 crew the current situation. “Just last week the water coming out pretty brown out of my faucet so I'm looking at it like I don't even really want to take a shower and that you know but after a while it cleared up, but it was pretty nasty.”
According to village Mayor, Bill Peeler, an accident led to the mucky water. “Somebody was mowing and cut a communication line,” he said. It caused the water pumps to drain and run low. For the past couple of weeks, the village has been working on the problem.
Montgomery County Executive Robert Purtell says the county is in a support role, only. “We’re here to help them through any issues they have. We know that they currently have their own engineer working through things and they seem to be working hard,” he said.
With the lack of clean water, several businesses pitched in to help out. “The mayor reached out to us late last week and wondered if there was anything that Stewart’s could do to help out. I think it was in 24 hours or so and we figured out a way to get a truck load. I think we sent 1100 gallons of water down,” said Robin Cooper, Public Relations Manager with Stewart’s Shops. The county says about 125 residents have been given free water.
Businesses in the village, from the restaurants to the service stations, villagers are taking precautions to keep everyone safe. The owner of the Dairy Bar says they're able to stay open with few disruptions. “I think they're doing a good job with everything. This has happened before. They'll get it straightened out eventually. It's only been a couple of weeks,” said Jim Squillce.
There is still no official timeline on a fix for the discolored water.
