South Philly neighborhood steps up to help family with no water

SOUTH PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - Problems are mounting for an elderly woman who is caring for a family member with medical issues. Neighbors are stepping up after broken pipes have led to water problems. They are running garden hoses from their homes to help.

87-year-old Alvira Cimini has her hands full caring for her disabled daughter-in-law. Oxygen and feeding tubes need to be maintained. The last thing she needs is a problem with the water at her South Philly home, but the water's been off for two days so a neighbor is now pumping water into her home with a hose.

"He put the hose through to try to get me some water for her."

Anthony Espada lives right next door. He has a different problem, water is running into his basement from the street and he's not happy about it.

"I think they should be down here now fixing the problem," he said.

Espada and the neighbors believe the problem is the result of some Streets Department or contractor work on the block in connection with construction of new homes.

"We came out to investigate and found there was a broken service line at the property," John DiGiulio of the Water Department said.

The Water Department says the problem is not in the street. It's the broken service line and that's the responsibility of the homeowners.

"They own them, they have to maintain them. Unfortunately, when they break, homeowners also have to repair them," DiGiulio said.

Neighbors are holding their ground on what's behind this, but mostly they'd like the water problems cleared up once and for all.

"If they want to take that further with the Streets Department or the city as a whole they can do that," DiGiulio said.

Late Wednesday night, the Water Department crews showed up to dig up the street and begin making repairs.