Around 80 homes in a rural community west of Goshen have been left high and dry. They have not had running water since Tuesday night and people living in the area, like Miriam Cortez, said they're struggling.
"Just like washing the dishes, making the bottles for the chidren, just washing the clothes, flushing the toilets. They're both plugged right now," said mother of five, Miriam Cortez.
Cortez says it hasn't been easy. Her 12-year-old daughter stayed home from school Thursday because she hasn't been able to shower.
"Kind of nasty to send her to school without hygiene, proper hygiene," said Cortez.
It all happened when both the 40-year-old primary and backup wells developed cracks, causing the pipes to clog with sand.
"We started pumping straight sand. Had to shut it down which you can see what we're taking out of the distribution center now," said Lance Love with West Goshen Mutual Water Company as someone shovels out thick sand.
A board of five elected volunteer members within the community make up West Goshen Mutual Water Company. They monitor the wells that went down.
"You know, just be patient and we're doing everything we can to fix the problem," said Lucy Hernandez, President of the West Goshen Mutual Water Company.
The water board says the Tulare County Department of Environmental Health droped off more than 200 cases of bottled water Wednesday night. Each home is allowed two cases.
This is a temporary fix while the water company works to restore service.
"The community is poor, the community don't have money to pay for it, so we need help," said Love.
There is still no timeline as to when the water service will be restored. Meanwhile, the water company plans to ask the state and county for funding to build a new well.
