Tainted tap water an on-going problem in Elm City

For decades, residents of Elm City have known to be skeptical of the water coming from their tap.

"When I first moved, I heard the water wasn’t good," says Angela Atkinson, who has lived in Elm City since 2006.

"We haven’t drank the tap water since we’ve been here," she said.

In the last six months, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has flagged the city water service six times for violations of the drinking water standard. Four of those have noted the presence of trihalomethanes in the water. Trihalomethanes are cleaning byproduct chemical known to cause cancer with long-term exposure.

Atkinson says she gets a notice on her door every few months warning that the water has high levels of a cancer-causing chemical.

The health threat comes along with a pocketbook cost.

Atkinson buys a case of bottled water each week – nearly 1,000 cases in her time in the town.

"It’s a necessity so I added it to my grocery budget," she said. "Buying water is just like buying a loaf of bread now," she said.

When she does use tap water, she worries.

She said, "When you stand there at the bathroom sink, and you are brushing your teeth, you think, 'This is the same water that we don’t drink.' It’s not good, but we still brushing our teeth with it you know."

Mayor Tawanda Moore is working with the town engineer to find ways to replace the aging infrastructure that likely leads to water quality issues.

"I run into citizens all the time who say, 'I’ve been living in Elm city for 20 years or 20+ years and there has always been a problem with the water,'" she said.

Another part of her job is figuring out why the problem has persisted for so long. It pre-dates her public service, which began when she was elected as a commissioner in 2019.

"What the administration is doing is trying to bridge the gap of understanding," Moore said. "What happened years ago to now? A lot seems to fall on this administration, but we are just trying to find the same answers. Who dropped the ball?"

Atkinson and her neighbors wonder too.

"Why is it taking so long to get it fixed," she asked.

Asked what steps have been taken to solve the water quality problems, town leaders said their main priority is applying for grant funds from the state to replace outdated pipes.