Hey, Tom Roberts, Water Water Everywhere, Nary Any Drop to Drink.

Wanna come take a bath in my tub?  Better yet, want a glass?

As some of you guys saw this weekend, we have a water problem at Casa Callahan.  Our water is gross.  Not just every once in a while.  Not just sometimes.  Often.  It's brown.  Green-brown.  Yellow-brown.  Brown-brown.  Sometimes when you fill up the tub, you can't see to the bottom.  Anyone want to come have a glass from our tap?

This is what your tub looks like after a bath, Tom, right?

We've been complaining to the company that manages our community well, Aqua America/Aqua Raleigh, for YEARS.  They've tested the water and tell us it's safe to drink.  And given us every excuse in the book for why the water still looks so bad.  We've been told they have it fixed.  Until the brown stuff comes out of the tap again a few days later.  We've been told to flush our entire house (including the hot water heater, which means you flush that thing 7-8 times just to get the sediment out).  That takes a crap-ton of water.  Which means we have a crazy high water bill.  Guess what?  When we get the crazy high bill, Aqua says, "Too bad.  So sad. We're not giving you a break on the bill. You owe the whole thing."  

Yum.  Looks like a rum and coke.  And yet it's not.

Nice guys, right?  So, this weekend I went to make the bonus kids some lemonade and the water came out into the pitcher (and subsequent glass) brown.  I lost it.  And I took to Twitter and this blog (and the blog FB page, Instagram, Tumblr and Flickr) to challenge the local president of Aqua, Tom Roberts, to come drink a glass of our tap water at our house.  I also reached out to the local news media, to see if anyone cared.

I don't understand why our whites don't stay white.

Guess what?  Our local NBC affiliate did!  They contacted me this morning and were at our house by 10:45a to interview us.  We also sent them a zillion pictures that we've taken over the years of ruined laundry, permanently stained toilets, bathtubs filled with water so brown you can't see the bottom and the subsequent sludge left at the bottom when you drain it. We can't even wash our cars in our own driveway because it leaves water spots on the cars that you can't get off.  

Thanks to Mike Lamia and WNCN for covering our story.

The reporter, Mike Lamia, was apparently also able to interview Tom Roberts and extended my offer to him to come share a glass of water with me. Apparently he declined.  I just watched the newscast where we were featured (you can see it here).  And my new buddy Tom.  And he ADMITTED he wouldn't drink our water and he understands why we would want someone to do something about it.  But . . . also said they were going to do NOTHING about our problem.  The water isn't unsafe.  It's just "aesthetically unpleasant."  Way to go, Tom.  You're a gem.  Glad to see the 5.3% rate hike you initiated this year is going to good use. I just tweeted asking him if I can come do my family's laundry at his house, since it often gets ruined at this house.  

I love stains on my new dishtowel that I spent two hours crafting (you'll see how to do this later this week).

What about you guys?  Any of you have problems with Aqua or your water company?  I'd love to hear about it.  Leave me a note in the comments below. And maybe we can go shame them together.  
Now back to our regularly schedule super-fun-ness. Thanks for listening.
And Tom Roberts, you're welcome.