Residents of a Denton County community say its water quality is so poor, its eating away at their appliances.
Folks living in the Artesia subdivision just north of State Highway 380 say life in their suburban heaven has them literally thirsting for more.
"We haven't been ingesting the water at all now," homeowner Carter Morris said.
Morris and her neighbors are getting by, in one way or another, with using as little water as possible because of contaminants that routinely fade laundry, rust silverware and destroy major appliances such as outdoor air conditioning units that have been sprayed by sprinkler systems.
The Artesia neighborhood gets its water from wells. Denton County fresh water district 10 is its provider.
Neighbors began noticing problems months ago. Most of them thought it was something specific to their homes.
But well water requires more filtration to remove harmful sediments that can eat away at aluminum coils such as those in new air-conditioning units.
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The water district said it is committed to making things better. In a series of community meetings, the district has pledged to route water from a different source as a short-term solution. Over the next year, it proposes building a free-standing water tower in the area to serve the community with a better filtration system.
Decisions will be made by the water board in the coming days.
In the meantime, folks such as Morris are still cooking with and drinking bottled water.
No one has reported becoming ill from the tap water, but after watching its effects on clothing, silver and appliances, almost no one is risking using it for anything other than bathing.
"It's frustrating at times," Morris said. "We've kind of learned to deal with it and used bagged ice and stuff like that."
