PEARSON, Ga. (WALB) - Residents in Pearson say they cannot drink, bathe or cook with their tap water, forcing them to haul jugs from neighbors with wells while the city works to secure millions in grant funding to fix aging infrastructure.

Mary Vickers Blair said she fills five jugs of water regularly — some for bathing and some for cooking.

“We cannot drink this water. We cannot bathe in this water. We cannot use this water, period,” Blair said. “When you wash clothes, your clothes come out yellow, brown. And with the water coming out the faucet, it come out brown.”

Blair showed a water filter installed just 10 days earlier, already discolored and clogged.

“I have a grandbaby I’m raising. I’m just tired. I’m really tired of our money going out, and we getting no results,” Blair said.

Residents say water unfit for basic use

Phyllis Smith’s boyfriend lives in Pearson and faces similar struggles. She said they collect well water from friends in the county and bring it back to his house.

“When you’re cooking supper and you go to wash your hands to cook, then you’re not really washing, getting your hands clean because of contamination in the water,” Smith said. “And therefore, you’re contaminating your food that you’re preparing.”

Smith said she can see particles when the water runs into a clear glass.

“If he’s going to live over here and have to live like this, then he should be compensated for the water he has to buy,” Smith added.

Mayor cites years of neglect, pursues grants

Mayor Jason Joyner said the water system suffered from years of neglect and the city is in “very, very bad shape” financially.

“Our main problem with the water system is just years of neglect. We got an old system and all,” Joyner said. “Over the past few years, things wasn’t kept up at the sewage plant and stuff like that. Just neglect. Not money spent on things where it needed to be spent.”

Joyner said if his memory serves him right, the city has not issued a boil water alert since January 1, or possibly just one time.

The mayor said the city received pre-approval for a $590,000 project with 75% forgiveness to install generators at two wells and highlight water and sewage lines. The project would cost about $590 per month for 20 years at 0% interest, Joyner said.

Joyner added that the city received pre-approval for a $2.6 million project with 75% forgiveness to replace two outdated lift stations, install bypass pumps and add a generator. The city would pay about $650,000.

“If we can get that done by March [2027], we got a legwork to work to try to work to improve our water and sewage system and get it back where it needs to be,” Joyner said.

The city is also working on a USDA grant applied for over 10 years ago to replace water lines. Joyner said work could start between June and September.

Water rates expected to increase

Joyner said water rates have not increased yet, but will need to go up because the system is losing $10,000 to $15,000 per month.

“The bills that’s going out is more than what the revenue is coming in. So it’s going in a hole every month,” Joyner said.

Georgia Rural Water is conducting a water rate study. Joyner estimated that rates would need to increase about 15% to 20% just to break even.

“The water rates is going to have to go up per gallon because you’ve got to get enough money to maintain the system,” Joyner said.

Blair said many residents are on fixed incomes and already struggling with utility bills.

“It’s so many people on fixed incomes. The light bill already tearing these people up without fixed income,” Blair said. “So why should they go in and finish tearing these people income up with this water?”

Audits key to unlocking funding

Joyner said neglected audits are the main obstacle preventing the city from accessing grant funding quickly. The city must complete its audits by March 2027 to qualify for the infrastructure projects.“Now, we got to get our audits right,” Joyner said. “We got about a year to get everything, our audits and all, which we’re working on trying to get everything lined up.”

The audit work will cost about $250,000. Joyner said the state is trying to help with that expense.

Joyner said he has been in office three and a half months and asked residents to be patient as the city works through the problems.

“It’s hard to fix in three and a half months when you don’t have no — it don’t matter if we had tons of money. You can’t fix the problem in three and a half months,” Joyner said. “But we are trying to go that way. We’re doing everything.”

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