“There are some problems with the water from city system,” she said.
Sanchez, who has lived in East Porterville for nearly five decades, said she is still using bottled water to cook and drink in addition to the $60 monthly bill she now pays for municipal water — up from the $40 she was paying.
Sanchez is among several East Porterville residents who were recently hooked up to the municipal water system, moving away from domestic pump wells.
Not all East Porterville residents had their wells dry up.
She was among the first East Porterville residents to be connected.
The home’s well didn’t run dry, but the landlord decided to connect to the system.
Sanchez said she was told the monthly bill for those who connect to the municipal system would be about $30.
“When I finished paying for it, they came and told me about connecting to the city system,” he said.
However, Lollis said the city is interested in adding East Porterville residents right away.
Dennis England, Water Resource Program director, said the county needed to jump in and help East Porterville families.