Water issues in Bledsoe County leaving residents frustrated

A line of residents standing to fill up jugs and container full of water from a tanker while their water is out on Wheeler Mountain in Bledsoe County.

BLEDSOE COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF)- Access to water is something most of us take for granted.

However, for a mountaintop community in Bledsoe County, residents have gone most of this week without it.

“Somebody needs to come out here and fix this to where it does not happen again,” said Lisa Delvea, who has lived on Wheeler Mountain outside of Pikeville off and on for ten years.

Since Monday, she, along with nearly two thousand other customers, or almost three-fourths of the customers in the Fall Creek Falls Utility District in Bledsoe and Van Buren Counties, have not had water.

Delvea said, “Not being able to take showers, and my daughter is 17 weeks pregnant, so with this, her being and all of this going on, it’s a big impact.”

This is the reality for many in Bledsoe County, as they are filling up large containers of water from a portable water tanker at the Mount Crest Volunteer Fire Department, as they wait for their water to come back.

“I really feel for the ones who have children, or a lot of children, it’s really impacted them, not being able to go to school,” Delvea said.

The Fall Creek Falls Utility District says several large leaks across the mountain have caused these issues.

On Friday, we saw them find one such leak on State Highway 285 near the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex.

They said on Friday evening that they are replacing nearly 200 feet of water line related to that leak.

Crews from Sparta and McMinnville in Middle Tennessee have come to assist the company repair the issues.

Meanwhile, there are other local relief efforts.

One such example is The Lab Gym in Pikeville on Cleveland Avenue.

They are allowing Wheeler Mountain residents to come shower at their facility even if they are not members of their gym.

They say over 50 people have traveled down the mountain to The Lab so they can shower and fill up water jugs.

Audrey Heiser, the gym’s marketing director, said, “The main goal of this gym is to be more than a gym and to really be able help the community, so we’re really glad anyway we can help in any situation like this that different storms and things, we’ve opened up the facilities for people to use our power and our facilities. We’re always super glad to help.”

The Lab is open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m on weekdays and 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

In addition, the relief efforts by the Mount Crest Volunteer Fire Department are also making a difference during this situation.

Delvea said, “People in general are very nice around here, they, when something like this happens, there’s usually a lot of people that come together.”

Fall Creek Falls State Parks said the outage is also affecting them in the following statement:

“Currently, the park and surrounding community are experiencing a water supply issue. As a result, all public restrooms and bathhouses inside the park are closed until further notice. Additionally, a boil water notice has been issued as a precaution. Portable restrooms will be available starting tomorrow, May 16th.

The park restaurant is closed to the public until further notice. Lodge and cabin guests are impacted only by the boil water notice and are encouraged to bring bottled water if possible.

For those with reservations, we understand that this may affect travel plans. While you are welcome to maintain your reservation, you can cancel, and we will provide a full refund. Our staff is also available to assist you with moving your reservation to a new date or state park, depending on availability. To make changes to your reservation, please contact our call center at 1-888-867-2757.

More water will be distributed at the Mount Crest Volunteer Fire Department on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and at the Fall Creek Falls Fire Department from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

There is no time table for water restoration.