The town of Boynton has been turning off its water service at night since last Friday while officials try to determine what’s causing the lack of pressure.

The problem has been hard to identify and may be even harder to fix, largely because the town has very limited financial resources, said Marie Wilson, mayor.

Wilson did not want to answer questions about the problem, because she said she has limited knowledge about water supplies.

However, answers are what Boynton resident Debbie Pardue wants.

She said she has asked several times since Friday what the problem is but has never felt she got a straight answer.

“It’s frustrating,” she said. “We have animals, and I take care of kids. During the day, I have enough pressure to wet a rag.”

She has drinking water, and she draws several buckets of water each day for the animals.

Wilson said Wednesday she still doesn’t have the answer to the problem.

“We’re thinking now we have pressure problems,” she said.

Someone was walking the supply line Wednesday looking for leaks, but the problem may be with failing pumps.

The town gets its water supply from Haskell, which is several miles away. Pumps are used to build enough pressure to fill the water tower.

If those pumps are bad, the town will have to seek emergency financing to buy a new one or have that one repaired, Wilson said.

Meanwhile, the town is trying to shut water service down only at night, Wilson said.

“That way, people are trying to sleep,” she said. “We’re trying to have it on during the day and either let the people bathe when they get in from work or try have it on early enough where they can bathe before they go to work. We’re trying our best to accommodate, but we’re never off 24 hours a day.”

Wilson said water service was not shut off Tuesday night until after 6:30 p.m.

Whatever is causing the problem, the town’s water tower only gets a few feet of water in it each night, which is not enough to supply the town around the clock, Wilson said.

People at the town’s highest elevations don’t have water service at all, she said.



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