Bad Well Water Is Impacting Some Noxubee County Residents

NOXUBEE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – All is not well for some Noxubee County residents.

A recent test from their private water supply shows their water is bad.

Homeowners say it’s been an ongoing issue, but recently, they say the water has gotten worse.

That’s what led them to have the water tested.

“In 2018, you know, living like we’re living in a Third World Country,” says resident Ronald Anthony.

When the water runs out of Ronald Anthony and Glennie Miller’s faucets, a smell falls with it.

They both use private wells and recently, the MSU Extension Service tested samples of their water.

“The letter came back. It has E.coli in it. I can’t take a bath in it. I can’t drink it. I can’t cook with it and then, I choose not to wash in it because I don’t want to have a skin rash or anything from it,” says Miller.

They’re two of nineteen residents living on or near Marion Moore Road, who are dealing with contaminated water.

“I have had three surgeries. Not saying that that was the cause, but I’ve had three surgeries dealing with my kidneys. So, I’m not saying, but it might be some of the cause, because of that water, the bacteria that it has in it.”

Anthony says since the water is unusable, he’s pouring money into other items just so he can actually use the water at his house.

“So, with all of those filters put together, it will be about $300 to $400 a month, just on filters and water for us to drink and that’s just one house, you know? That’s just my house. Not my brother’s house, not my sister’s house, not my dad, you know? That’s just in one household.”

District 5 Supervisor Bruce Brooks says the county is trying to do all it can to help, but digging a new well would cost about $25,000.

“You just need to go down deeper in order to get clean water and it’s just not going to happen in the rural area for, you know, individual citizens. It would just be unreal money to actually dig a well that would get down to the river water that’s clean now.”

The supervisor says this petition is a list of people who say they would move back to Noxubee County, if they could get good working water in certain parts.

Brooks and the impacted residents have gone before Brooksville city leaders asking to connect to the city’s water line.

But, again, money is a stumbling block.

“It’s only about a mile away. The estimated cost that the mayor said was $60,000. The citizens offered out here, that they would be willing to help, as in actually trenching and putting the lines in, or giving a donation.”

The Mississippi Department of Health says this in regards to the issue:

“If these 19 homeowners are all on their own 19 private wells and then the answer is no we don’t know about it.  As it appears that these are private individual wells, the Bureau has no regulatory authority address it.  It may be in their best interest to see if a local public water supply is in the area that they could connect to.  If the homes and septic systems are in close proximity to one another, the Division of On-Site Waste Water may have something say or could provide some assistance if septic systems are failing thereby affecting their wells.”