HENDERSON, N.C. — Imagine having water that smells so bad your neighbors know when you are taking a shower. That is the case for homeowners in one Henderson neighborhood.

About a dozen homes sit at the bottom of a hill on Franklin Road. Residents said after it rains, poor drainage causes a backup of sewage that seeps into the septic systems and contaminates their well water supply.

"All the septic tanks back up and the whole area smells like sewage for weeks afterward," resident James Weisner said.

Residents have been living with the problem for years, and said it is getting worse. They are demanding that Vance County officials do something about it.

"They keep telling us they'll be back in a week, and a week never happens," Weisner said of the county's response.

The group of homeowners held a meeting Wednesday evening. Vance County officials were invited, but did not show up.

The water is so bad, residents cannot drink it, cook with it or bathe in it.

"You don't feel clean when you take a shower. You still feel like you have a film on you," resident Wanda Fuller said. "The odor is so bad you have to let the window up. You can tell when people are taking showers from the street."

Homeowners said unless the county does something, they will never be able to sell their homes.