Water supply drastically improves for English Mountain homeowners

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Some that call English Mountain home said they’ve had an inconsistent flow of water to their homes for as long as a decade, but there is newfound hope after major changes took place.

“You may go nine or 10 days without water then you get water for a few hours or a day, then you go nine or 10 days without water again,” said longtime resident Patricia Rogers.

After a state report looked into the amount of water that was being wasted on English Mountain, new management at Alliance Water Resources said that issues of leaking pipes weren’t addressed properly, which led to water spilling onto the mountain instead of going to people’s homes.

Since then, Alliance and the East Sevier County Utility District have agreed to part ways and pave the way for Witt Utilities to take over the water supply for English Mountain.

“We’ve replaced more than three-quarters of a mile of pipe in the last week, and we’ve quadrupled their flow of water,” said General Manager Benjamin Harris.

Harris said old pipes were too small to be reliable long-term and believes the ones they’ve replaced will be able to give a steadier and more consistent flow of water to the people on English Mountain.

“You have no idea how thankful we are,” said Rogers who is now able to turn the water on in her home without any fear of it being off more than a week after Witt Utilities took over the water supply.

Along with replacing water providers, the three board members for ESCUD that helps with oversight were also replaced.

Harris said nobody on English Mountain should feel like the water they drink or use isn’t safe as they plan to continue to look for ways to improve water availability and quality to English Mountain.

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