OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida Department of Health in Osceola County said it was aware of a water sample testing positive for E.Coli at the Maxwell apartment at Xentury City
According to the Toho Water Authority, the apartment complex in Osceola County was found to have cross-connected its potable water and reuse irrigation systems. Channel 9 learned about the issue at the Maxwell at Xentury City after a viewer reported yellow- and brown-tinted water in her apartment.
“I was like this is disgusting,” said April Socarras when she saw the water change color after living in the apartment for around two years. “I started thinking maybe there’s like, like construction going on and they broke a pipe.”
Records obtained by Channel 9 show that she began communicating with the apartment complex to resolve the water issue around a month ago. Those records show the apartment complex took steps to fix the issue, such as completely flushing the hot water tank, but the yellow and brown water would return to units in the first building containing apartments, as well as to the complex’s gym and clubhouse.
Socarras said the color led her family to buy a water filter and switch to spring water as much as possible.
“I would say just our lifestyle changed,” she said. “Like we can’t brush our teeth with the water from the sink. We have to go get a cup from spring water to brush our teeth. If I wanna do my hair, I have to do it in the sink with spring water…Like there’s no sense of opening a faucet and using it.”
About a month after her initial complaint, the Maxwell put out a “precautionary boil notice advisory” for the building.
Joshua Frank, who is the complex’s property manager, said he wasn’t authorized to speak for the complex. He directed us to a spokesperson, who said it passed out packages of bottled water as well as offered alternative bathing options for people.
“We apologize for the inconvenience this has brought to our residents,” said a spokesperson for the Maxwell Apartments at Xentury City. “We want to clearly convey that from the moment we received notice of an issue, no time was wasted and we looked at every available remediation option to address the situation.”
Neither the notice nor the statement disclosed the reason for the boil advisory or a water sample testing positive for E.Coli. The company’s statement also didn’t provide any details about other closures, which occurred around the time the building’s boil advisory was issued.
April Socarras said she’s frustrated by the complex’s lack of transparency.
“Nobody’s running the place,” Socarras said. “So it’s very disappointing because you pay so much, and I know it’s part of the location, but these amenities and all these things, for what? It’s not being up kept.”
She said her rent last month was $3,100.
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