Residents say the water pressure is so poor they are having trouble cooking, showering, and doing laundryWHEATON, Md. — Residents at Arrive Wheaton are back in their apartments after a burst pipe last week forced more than 1,000 people out of the building but several residents say the problems are far from over.The incident happened Wednesday, when a pipe burst in the sub-basement and flooded the area with roughly 300,000 gallons of water. The flooding happened near the building’s electrical system, prompting management to ...
Residents say the water pressure is so poor they are having trouble cooking, showering, and doing laundry
WHEATON, Md. — Residents at Arrive Wheaton are back in their apartments after a burst pipe last week forced more than 1,000 people out of the building but several residents say the problems are far from over.
The incident happened Wednesday, when a pipe burst in the sub-basement and flooded the area with roughly 300,000 gallons of water. The flooding happened near the building’s electrical system, prompting management to shut down power and water and ordering residents to find other places to stay.
“It has been so draining. I am exhausted. It is cold,” one resident told WUSA9.
Some residents say they were given little information about when they could return or whether conditions would be livable once they did.
“Even though we were moved back, I never actually unpacked because I didn’t know if I should stay without water,” another resident said.
Residents told WUSA9 the water was initially expected to be restored within a few hours, but didn’t return until early Thursday morning.
As of Saturday, residents are back inside, but some say basic services still aren’t functioning properly. Several told WUSA9 they are experiencing extremely low water pressure, making it difficult to shower, cook or do laundry.
“The water pressure is really slow, like there’s no water pressure,” resident Rachel Luna said. She described the past several days as overwhelming.
“Everyone has been looking for other places to live because it’s just been so miserable,” Luna said. “I had my fridge fully stocked for the end of December, it’s all gone bad.”
Montgomery County Councilmember Natali Fani-González said she’s waiting on a report to determine who is responsible and called for accountability from the property team.
“The property manager has not been the best… there’s history there,” she said.
In a statement to WUSA9, Arrive Wheaton management said, “our number one priority was getting residents home as swiftly as possible, which was accomplished yesterday afternoon. For the last several days our teams have been working around the clock to make this happen. Currently our maintenance team is working through some issues which are expected after water has been turned off for a number of days.”
Residents say management has instructed them to keep their receipts for hotels and food, with hopes of reimbursement.