SEATTLE — For almost three weeks, people living on the 6th floor of an apartment in the Capitol Hill neighborhood say they've had little to no running water.
Management, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) and a private plumbing company are all working to resolve what's been a mysterious and frustrating problem.
Since mid-July, the 6th floor of the Belmont Court apartments in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood has had low water pressure, according to building management.
Tyler Rogers moved in right as the problem started and says some days there's no water at all.
"It's resulted in a lot of creative thinking. I'm buying water from QFC in jugs and I'm using it to fill the tank in my toilet," said Rogers.
Thursday, the pressure appeared to show some improvement. Seattle Public Utilities sent a crew to inspect the infrastructure overnight Wednesday but said it didn’t notice any problems.
"I haven't noticed a specific pattern in my water. It's sort of everyday I discover if it's a no water day or a good water day," said Rogers.
Why the water was stronger Thursday remains a mystery.
"Our crews have been onsite multiple times in the last 3 weeks to investigate, and we haven't discovered any issues with the City's water infrastructure that would be causing some residents in the building to be experiencing problems," SPU said in a statement. Crews are expected to return Friday morning.
Seattle Public Utilities and Bona Vista, who manages the property, say they're still searching for a definitive answer and hoping to have a solution possibly as soon as Friday.
Once the issue began in mid-July, management said it was reported to SPU daily. They say SPU took more than a week to initially respond, so a private plumbing company was brought in to investigate. Now the two groups are working together to find an answer to this mysterious problem.
“We have made an apartment on the fifth floor available to residents for showering, laundry, or any need they have. We have offered to pay for laundry services, the owners have agreed to terminate any affected lease without penalty, we have and will agree to any reasonable request made by a resident affected by this,” Bona Vista manager, Mike Bessenyey wrote to KING5.
Rogers said as a new resident he wasn't made aware of the building's accommodations.
"I'm thankful I have solutions like showering at work, but its tough, it sucks," said Roger.
It's a problem puzzling crews that have left tenants like Rogers in a difficult and dry spot.
"I just want water, that's all I want," said Rogers.