Water Usage Being Blamed For Subdivision's Dry Morning

Residents in the Henley subdivision said they are upset about waking up without water Tuesday morning.

"At 8 o'clock, we had no water at all, and now we have a trickle again," homeowner Penny Lafon said.

"It was kind of shocking to turn the water on and not have anything come out, but a coughing sound," homeowner Don Lanier said.

Heater Utilities operates the well water system for the neighborhood. A company spokesperson told WRAL that it is not the wells, but the tanks that are drying up. He said the wells are pumping doubletime, trying to fill the tanks back up.

The spokesman also said the company had record water usage in the Bayleaf district Monday morning. Last week, the same company had the same problem in Cary's Heatherstone neighborhood. The company points to too many people using irrigation systems to keep their lawns lush and green.

In the last few weeks, lawns at the subdivision have turned brown due to the lack of water. Residents said it is hard to deal without water in the mornings.

"If I had known this was going to happen, I would have put some water in the bathtub like it was a hurricane," Lafon said.

"If we don't get rain within the next two or three weeks, I would say that we will be in a lot of trouble," Lanier said.

Residents in the subdivision said they have dealt with the water situation for one to two weeks. Heater Utilities is looking into the problem.

Several surrounding areas are dealing with water shortages.

Durham City and County have 95 days of water remaining, but resources in Lake Michie and Little River could be tapped in an emergency. Cary and Apex have 123 days in storage. Orange County Water and Sewer estimates it has 168 days of water.