The Celestino A. White Sr. retirement home in Sugar Estate on St. Thomas. Residents say they have been plagued by stinking water since the complex opened in 2016. Tests paid for by the source showed that there was a total of coliform bacteria in the water in one of the apartments. (Source photo by Sian Cobb)
Black sludge is found on Vivianne Allen’s shower floor at the Celestino A. White Sr. retirement home on Sugar Estate on St. Thomas, in a photo taken before her 50-gallon water heater was replaced with a 2-gallon tankless unit has been. (Photo by Manaca Allen)
Manaca Allen feared that the water in her mother’s apartment at the Celestino A. White Sr. retirement home on Sugar Estate on St. Thomas would make her sick.
“I wish you could have been there to smell the smell of rotten eggs,” said Allen, who lives on the mainland, recounting a visit to her mother in 2017. “I could do it all the way in the living room smell. I knew something was wrong. I was in a panic – I thought there was a gas leak. “
Allen’s mother, Vivianne Allen, 76, moved into the four-story complex with 80 residential units shortly after it opened in May 2016. The apartments were billed as an affordable, independent residential community for senior citizens in St. Thomas and developed out of a public institution. private partnership between the VI Housing Authority and Michaels Development, headquartered in New Jersey.
Water quality problems at the $ 31 million complex were apparent almost immediately, said Diamond Carter, a resident and president of the building council.
“It stinks to heaven. It smells a little lower than the sewer, ”she said of the water coming from cisterns. “I don’t brush my teeth with this water,” Carter said, and she let the shower run for a couple of hours before washing the dishes. “I know the water is bad,” she said.
“We’ve had this problem for the four and a half years we’ve lived here,” Carter said. “They really don’t care about us. We’re only here to pay rent and that’s it. “
Vivianne Allen, who was treated for kidney failure at Mount Sinai Hospital in Florida for a year, feared for her health and said she and some of her neighbors were suffering from hair loss, urinary tract infections and rashes.
“We are seniors. I am recovering from kidney failure. I have to be careful what I eat and what not. We have serious medical problems, ”she said. “It’s like we’re up here just to die.”
Carter and the Allens believed the problem was with the apartment’s 50-gallon water heaters, which never drain completely because they are too big for one or two residents and allow bacteria to grow. A photo by Manaca Allen showed black mud from the water in her mother’s shower.
“It looked like coffee grounds,” she said.
For the past four years, the women have contacted their senators, pastors, and officials from the Michaels Organization and in February sent a sample of Vivianne Allen’s kitchen sink to the Oceans System Laboratory in Red Hook for testing. (The tests were paid for by the source.)
Tests paid by the source show that Diamond Carter’s apartment at the Celestino A. White Sr. retirement home in Sugar Estate on St. Thomas has total coliforms in the water where the apartments are equipped with 50-gallon water heaters. (Screenshot)
The sample was positive for total coliform bacteria and was found not to conform to the standards of the Environmental Protection Agency.
“This means that the water is currently not potable,” the report said.
“All coliform bacteria found in drinking water make drinking unsatisfactory,” the report said. “The water supply should be decontaminated and a suitable filtering device installed. Filtration should be done with decontamination (use Clorox or similar household non-scented bleach – 5.2% sodium hypochlorite) as bacteria found in contaminated water will grow in the filters. “
Michaels Organization is a full-service development, property management, construction, and finance residential real estate company that monitors 422 communities in 35 states, the District of Columbia, and the US Virgin Islands, according to their website. The company responded to the test results on March 10 by replacing Allen’s 50-gallon water heater with a 2-gallon tankless unit as a “test case,” her daughter said.
Follow-up examinations by the Oceans System Laboratory on March 29, paid by the source, show Allen’s water now meets EPA standards and is potable.
A test of the water in Vivianne Allen’s apartment, where the 50-gallon heater was replaced with a 2-gallon tankless unit in March, came back as potable. The test was paid for by the source. (Screenshot)
Identical tests on water from Carter’s apartment, which still has a 50-gallon heater in it, revealed that the water was contaminated with total coliform bacteria and was not potable.
“USVI Department of Planning and Natural Resources regulations require a retest within 24 hours of a positive result,” the report said.
The Michaels organization, which was contacted by phone and email on Friday, replied by email that it would replace the 50-gallon water heaters in all apartments with tankless 2-gallon units, but also claimed that it would Water stinks, but not a health risk, according to tests in the complex’s office.
“The water is tested regularly and the traces of bacteria naturally found in the water are below any value harmful to human health. The results of these tests are stored in the manager’s office in the community, ”said Laura Zaner, who is responsible for communications for the Michaels organization.
“While this is in no way a safety risk, some residents have told us that they sometimes get a ‘sulfur-like’ smell when they turn on their hot water. This odor occurs when the water in the water heater has not been recycled between uses and disappears after about 15 minutes of running the water, ”said Zaner.
“When we found this to be an inconvenience, we recently tested new, smaller tankless water heaters that are better suited to smaller one- to two-person households than the current 60-gallon water heater.” Zaner wrote.
“The new smaller units, each delivering around two gallons, heat up instantly without frequent use, and the residents in whose units we tested them were very happy with the results. We have ordered 80 more of these units and when they arrive [expected between three to five weeks] We will install one in all units, ”said Zaner.
Carter said she suggested converting the building to water heater two years ago.
“You finally heard me, I suppose,” she said.
“Everyone has the right to safe drinking water,” said Manaca Allen.
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