El Vecino apartment complex without water since Thursday

Hundreds have been without water at the El Vecino Apartment Complex in Colorado Springs since Thursday, May 23.

Plumbing crews continue work to get the water flowing again, however, residents say conditions have become unbearable.

For the people living at the El Vecino apartments, Sunday was day four without any water. Some even say their homes are beginning to feel more like outhouses rather than apartments.

“It stinks in there our bodies stink,” El Vecino resident Barbara Hamilton said. “We got children here, and there is no water for nobody.”

A 40-year-old water line broke on Thursday, but the problems only worsened from there.

“One thing lead to the other, and we had two leaks,” said Mike Black, the owner of Mike’s Plumbing and Heating. “The second leak was the huge one that caused all the damage that is already here.”

Plumbing crews have been on the scene since Thursday and progress has been slow. This has been deliberate so that crews don’t cause further problems.

“We found six 240 volt lines right in the area where we need to dig,” said Black. “So we are having to dig a hole behind that so that we can dig under the piping. The line voltage is coming across where we need to be.” Dunmire Property Management, who took over operations at the apartment complex last February, has told residents they will be as accommodating as possible throughout the process.

“My issue isn’t that (the water line) broke that’s expected to happen its 40-year old pipes. My issue is they said they would accommodate us,” said Amber Bird, another resident at the complex.

“Accommodate to me means they are going to take care of us and make sure we are okay. They haven’t done anything. They gave us two gallons of water the very first day, and slipped a letter under our door and said they would be gone until Tuesday.” We reached out to Dunmire Property Management, but they couldn’t be reached. Plumbing crews tell KRDO they hope to have a temporary fix and water back on by the end of Sunday, but nothing is certain.

In the meantime, portable toilets have been delivered to the apartment complex.