When some residents turn their faucet on, their water looks like milk and sometimes has black specks in it. Obviously, you can’t drink it or cook with it, but how do they get the problem fixed? It’s why they called Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
Lisa likes to say she has a condition, but it’s a good one.
Lisa Rainner: “Yes, I have the condition, yes. I’m a neat freak. I was raised like that, and my sisters are neat freaks also.”
Of course if you keep everything spotless, the condition requires a necessity.
Lisa Rainner: “A lot of water.”
And that is why Lisa called us.
Lisa Rainner: “I can’t drink this.”
The water from Lisa’s faucet looks cloudy; she calls it milky.
Lisa Rainner: “I see a milky colored water. It’s a milky color, that’s the best way I can describe it.”
This is a glass of bottled water, this is from the faucet. The difference is obvious and after awhile the cloudy water from the faucet does clear up, meaning it’s probably air bubbles.
But then, after the bubbles dissipate, there is a film left on top.
Lisa Rainner: “I’m really concerned. Where is this water coming from?”
Now, watch it flow into the sink.
Lisa Rainner: “Oh, my God, what is that?”
The line around the water almost looks like a stream of spit.
Lisa is not the only one, walk down to her neighbor Stephanie’s apartment. She has the cloudy water and this.
Patrick Fraser: “This came from my kitchen sink?”
Patrick Fraser: “That came from the kitchen sink, yes.”
Back at Lisa’s, her family has to use bottled water to brush their teeth, cook and clean the dishes.
Lisa Rainner: “Cleaning pan but it sure looks strange.”
Because look at the pan when she uses tap water.
Lisa Rainner: “Even when I rinse the dishes, the milky color is on the dishes.”
Bottom line, you know what the neat freak wants and needs.
Lisa Rainner: “That’s all I want, is clean water.”
Well, Howard, what can you do if your tap water doesn’t look right?
Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “The law requires that every person in America is entitled to clean drinking water in their homes. If it’s the utility’s fault, it’s dirty they have to fix it. If it’s the landlord’s fault, they have to fix it.”
The Pembroke Pines utility is across the street from Lisa’s apartment.
Mike Bailey told me the cloudy look Lisa sees is called fine air and is safe to drink. He has never heard of a film on top and says the black specks are not coming from their plant.
The owner of Lisa’s complex told me they had an issue in early July, that there was some debris and air in the lines, but they have checked it every day, and it’s clean now.
Lisa Rainner: “Let’s get the water tested. Let’s see if this is some type of chemical or if it is a bacteria in the water.”
We bought a basic water testing kit to try at Lisa’s. The water coming from the faucet was no longer cloudy.
Lisa wanted it tested for lead and pesticide, we did that. It came back negative.
Lisa Rainner: “Whoo hoo…whoo hoo…I am so happy.”
Lisa has peace of mind, no black specs are coming out of Stephanie faucet. Their water is fine.
Lisa Rainner: “You went above and beyond the call of duty, and I really appreciate all that you do.”
If you are worried about your tap water, call the utility first. Odds are it’s not their fault, but many landlords will say don’t blame me, blame the water company. You can then tell them, your property has the problem and you need to fix it.
A problem left you soaked? Ready to make a splash? Tap into us, cause we have a deep well of legal solutions.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser 7News.
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