Winfield mobile home park faces water troubles again after monthlong 'Do Not Use' notice

Barely a month after water at Bernie’s Mobile Home in Winfield finally tested at safe drinking levels, residents are facing a boil water advisory.

In a statement sent to residents, park management said Bernie’s had experienced a water main break on Wednesday, which resulted in a loss of water pressure.

It advised residents to boil water or use water bottles for drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth and food preparation.

“A loss of positive water pressure is a signal of the existence of conditions that allow contamination to enter the distribution system through back-flow by back-pressure and back-siphonage,” the statement said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said in those conditions, “there is an increased chance that the water may contain disease-causing organisms.”

The advisory affects about 170 people served by 75 connections, according to the DEP.

Starting in mid-October, residents were left without drinking water after the DEP issued a “Do Not Use” notice because of elevated levels of manganese — an elemental metal — found in the wells that serve the park.

That notice was lifted in mid-November.

Residents had been using cases of bottled water sporadically distributed by park management, but many said it wasn’t enough for their regular needs.

That led several residents to bring in their own water in jugs or other vessels to get through the month.

Among those left to bring water from elsewhere was Kellie Walker, who has lived at the park with her fiancé and three children for about two years.

Since the “Do Not Use” notice was lifted last month, Walker said she has mostly been using her water normally, but she’s still refused to bathe her 1-year-old using the mobile home park’s water.

But just before Christmas, she’s back to using bottled water again.

“I don’t know how anyone can live like this,” Walker said.

Several of her calls to park management have gone unanswered and unreturned, she said.

“I’m just beyond frustrated,” Walker said. “How am I supposed to be in the Christmas spirit?”

Stackhouse Management, the North Carolina-based firm that has managed Bernie’s since 2022, didn’t respond to inquiries about its plans and timeline to repair the water main. Neither did the park’s onsite manager.

The park management’s recent statement directed residents to the DEP for more information.

According to the DEP, the advisory will be lifted after repairs are complete, the system is flushed, and two consecutive days of coliform sampling show satisfactory results.

It didn’t say how long that process would take.