Snohomish residents deal with water service shut-off



SNOHOMISH, Wash. – It’s day one without water for about 100 households and businesses in Snohomish County.

Everett Public Works says it has to repair a 50-year-old water line.  That means shutting off water service Wednesday until Friday.

“I’m going to have to confess my wife really did all the preparing,” said Snohomish homeowner and retiree Bill Shepherd.

Shepherd’s wife has the stove top full of pots and pans.  Each pot is filled with water, not for cooking but to survive.

“Last night before we went to bed, we turned off all the water valves and the toilets,” said Shepherd.

Their Snohomish home sits along this red line that relies on Everett Water Service Transmission Line Five.  Their water line is under repair.  The 50-year-old pipe needs a tune-up.  So Everett Public Works say it’s a couple of days without water now for increased reliability and service in the future.

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“We made it through a day and we’ve got one more to go and hopefully they’re on schedule,” said Shepherd.

Businesses were affected, too. No water means no local favorites. King Charley’s drive-in closed. No burgers or fries until Friday.

“Just water and some candy,” said Genesee Benson.

Eight gallons of water packed up in the Benson’s SUV.  A convenient, fresh stack of water piled up outside a Snohomish Safeway for easy access for people in the affected area.

“The gal at the checkout was saying there were so many people that came in this morning that were just angry because they hadn’t got a message and the water was just shut off when they woke up,” said Benson.

But Benson says they were notified three separate times the shutoff was coming.

“They’re doing what they have to do. They warned us.  And they’ll be done when they’re done,” said Benson.

Everett Public Works says it’s on schedule to turn water service back on by Friday.