JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Apartment complex at the center of a News4JAX I-TEAM investigation into potential sewage washing up in tenants’ water supply has conducted water sampling of its own. And it says the water is now safe.
Management for the Red Bay Apartment complex shared its results and photos with the I-TEAM on Wednesday of what may have been the cause. This came after the I-TEAM took its own water samples from the apartments to an independent lab for testing.
That lab found high levels of bacteria in all of the samples.
Our investigation started with disabled veteran Andrew Hurst, complaining about the smell of sewage coming from his dishwasher. I can tell you first hand, it smelled terrible.
It prompted us to test the water from four different sources. Hurst’s dishwasher, water from his neighbors’ pipes, Hurst’s shower, and from his tap. Microbiologists at the University of North Florida gave us practically the same results each time.
“From that little, tiny amount of water that I put on these petri dishes, after 24 hours of incubation, I noticed a vast, vast amount of bacteria,” Dale Casamatta, UNF Biologist, said. “You shouldn’t have that number of bacteria in your water supply regardless of where you obtained it from.”
Attorneys for the Red Bay Apartments say they have been doing some investigating of their own, explaining the reason for the water supply in Hurst’s dishwasher being backed up.
They provided us with a photo of a face towel, lawyers say clogged up the sewer line from another tenant. They also gave us a photo of feminine hygiene products lawyers say were flushed down the toilet, in an apartment above Hurst’s.
The attorneys also shared the results of water sampling they had performed of four apartment units at the complex and main office, saying the results reveal there is no presence of bacteria, or E coli, saying the tap and shower water tested safe.
Red Bay Apartments also issued this statement to the I-TEAM regarding alleged bacteria from the shower and tap water saying, “There’s no way bacteria could be present from the tap water and shower water in Hurst’s apartment.” The statement continued, “The water sampler is supposed to remove the water aerator and disinfect the metal before testing to eliminate any outside contaminants.” And it said, “The sampler should follow chain of custody requirements.”
News4JAX learned the water samples conducted by Red Bay Apartments did not include samples from Hursts apartment directly, but instead from an apartment right next to Hursts, which lawyers say is connected to the same water source.
Independent plumber Drew Hartman explained how Hurst’s dishwasher and his neighbors’ water could have been contaminated. “There would have to be a leak on a sewer line or say a sewage spill. Every house has a cleanout out front. And that is where we snag the drain lines and say they had a sewage backup, they took the cap off, and the sewage went on the ground. And somebody had a hose laying there, a hose should have what’s called a vacuum breaker on every hose bib.”
Hartman continues, “If the vacuum breaker isn’t on here, you could get an air pocket and it can suck up that sewage in the water system that way, but it has to be a leak, it has to be a leak that causes these things most of the time.
We also checked with JEA about the Red Bay Apartment complex’s backflow prevention assemblies, which segregate drinking and non-potable water piping and are required to be maintained by the complex.
JEA writes: “JEA’s contracted testing vendor, Fire Sprinkler Services was unable to locate the irrigation backflow preventer, which means it was most likely removed. The 6″ multifamily service has not been tested since 2019. This service is required to be tested biennially, (every other year) Due to the lag in testing, that system is delinquent. This service is included in JEA’s testing reminder notification list for the month of March.
Backflow preventers are not related to sewer in any capacity and would not prevent sewer backups. A backflow preventor’s purpose is to keep potential contaminants introduced to the water beyond the JEA water meter from flowing back into the public water system. JEA ensures the water up to the meter but has no control over how it is used beyond the meter. A backflow preventer is not causing any potential contamination of Red Bay’s private water distribution system.”
Attorneys for Red Bay Apartments responded by saying, “JEA’s system must not be updated yet. JEA requires the use of a JEA-authorized vendor plumber. We did the testing with one from the list and they completed the report and sent it to JEA showing that the apartment complex testing for Red Bay passed.”