Water woes in Pearland area: Residents say their frustrated with outages, brown water, and operation

HOUSTON - Residents of a Pearland subdivision say they are facing water problems, including outages, brown water, and a lack of communication from the owner of the water system.

Heather Dannhaus, secretary and treasurer of the Robin Cove Homeowners Association, said the water has been out several times in recent months, sometimes for hours at a time. She said the water also comes out brown, which can make clothes dingy and pools dirty. Most of the residents have filtration systems, but some in that area do not. 

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"When the well goes down, we need the reliability to have water, it's essential for us," says Dannhaus. "There's no backup generator for it. When there's a storm and the power goes out, we're without water."

Dannhaus said she has tried to contact the owner and operator of the water system, Jeff Brennan, but he has been difficult to reach. 

Brennan, who is also Chairman of the Brazoria County Drainage District, tells FOX 26 he has responded to all calls from residents and that he has made repairs to the system when necessary.

"When someone calls me from the Robin Cove subdivision, I've immediately answered the situation," says Brennan. "I do not have time to call each one of the residents personally and let them know that there's an issue or problem." 

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He also indicates that financially, it's difficult to make all the needed repairs. "That system does not make any money. Those people are charged about $25 per month. I make about $600 per month off it. The electric bill is about $200 a month."

The HOA has attempted to buy the well from Brennan, but says he has turned down the organization's offers. Pearland Mayor Kevin Cole said the city has no authority to provide water to the area because of state law.

"The city has no authority over their water system," says Cole. "We couldn’t sell them water in any shape, form, or fashion because of how the Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN) is set up and the way the state rules are. We've actually had one subdivision where it took us millions of dollars and years to buy it out. I'd love to get our State Senators or Representatives involved."

Cole also says pictures of the facility have been forwarded to his Code Enforcement office. 

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The previous owner of the well who sold it to Brennan about 20 years ago told FOX 26 that state standards were a lot more strict then, and he was required to fix things immediately. 

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has investigated the water system several times in recent years and has found a number of issues, including failure to enclose the plant with a secured fence and failure to properly maintain good working conditions.

Brennan says he's working to address the issues. Residents of the Robin Cove subdivision are asking him to be more responsive and to fix the problems with the water system.

"We're all human beings and this is our water supply," Dannhaus said. "We don't have unrealistic expectations. We just want to be able to communicate."