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Small Stanislaus County Town Wondering Whether Its Water Is Safe

CROWS LANDING (CBS13) – There are two wells for nearly 150 homes in the Crows Landing community – one well went out several months, the second one went out twice this week.

"And now even when I wash dishes I'm thinking, 'Well they said boil water, are our dishes safe? Do you sterilize them too?' It's very frustrating," Roxane Martinez said.

Martinez, a Crows Landing resident, is demanding to know how safe is her water.

"It's amazing how much you really go through when you think you're conserving and when you really have to conserve," Martinez said.

On Monday, according to people who live in Crows Landing, the water stopped flowing to the entire community. Roxane says Crows Landing Water District workers told them the water would be back on the next day.

"So we got our water back 5 p.m. on Tuesday. We had water for two days and then it went out on Thursday," Martinez said.

She says twice in one week, the Crows Landing community had no water – leaving homeowners out to dry.

"It's extremely frustrating. You think about it … [You] got to flush your toilet, you got to wash your dishes," Martinez said.

Roxane claims the district originally thought the wells stopped working because of the drought, but then learned it was the well itself.

"We just want water, guaranteed, for a little while."

This week, when the second well stopped working twice, Roxane says crews put in a temporary pump so they could have water, but were told to boil it first.

Roxane says she wants a permanent fix fast.

"If somebody really wants to know how much water they use, don't use water for a day or two," Martinez said.

Martinez says the Crows Landing Community Services District is supposed to fix one of the wells on Monday. She says the community services district will be fixing one well at a time.

CBS13 tried reaching out to the water district but has not heard back as of Sunday night.

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