Council discusses persistent brown tap water in Fort Myers neighborhood

Many neighbors in a Fort Myers neighborhood still have brown water coming out of their sinks and showers. We first heard about this issue almost a month ago. Although the city has started installing new filters in some people’s homes, not all of them have been replaced.

Fort Myers City Council discussed brown water at the homes of some neighbors in McGregor Reserve during its regular meeting Monday.

For the second time in more than a month, city council is having a conversation about tap water at homes in McGregor Reserve. People living in the Fort Myers neighborhood say their water is disgusting, and they demand the city fix the problem.

Neighbor Paige Cooper says she doesn’t feel safe bathing her child in the water at their family’s home in McGregor Reserve.

“It is maddening. It is frustrating. I’m just exhausted,” Cooper said. “We’re all exhausted trying to fight a basic need, which is clean water.”

Cooper says the city sends a crew fairly often to take water samples. She told us, when they do, the murky water goes into the streets. When it dries, it leaves rust stains. And that’s the least of their problems. She adds, if it’s in the streets, imagine what’s inside their homes.”

“You wanna drink that? You wanna shower in that? You wanna bathe in that? You wanna swim in that? You wanna bathe your children in that?,” Cooper said.

Since council met mid-June, Cooper said the city put in filters throughout the neighborhood. Not all neighbors have received theirs yet, but, for those who have, Cooper says they already need replacing.

“This is a Band-Aids because you are not fixing the problem of where the pipe is and to replace the rusty pipes,” Cooper said.

On top of this, some homeowners say they have water pressure issues. They attribute the problem to the city shutting off one of pipes.

The city manager said they are still searching for the exact location of the problem, and he said the city will fix it once he knows what exactly the issue is, so it’s done properly. He also said this will not be a patch-up job, and it will be taken care of.

McGregor Reserve neighbors say they aren’t asking for much.

“Let’s just get clean water,” Cooper said.