For residents of one Oklahoma mobile home park, everyday tasks have slowed or stopped because they must haul water by hand.
At Blue Sky Acres in Muskogee, 12 households were left without running water for three days after a spike in the park's shared water bills led to a shutoff, News on 6 reported.
Here's what to know
Roy Shamel, a resident who owns his home and has lived there for 14 years, has been trying to manage as best he can during the outage.
"I'm 73 years old and I grew up with hard times, so I know how to function without it. There's different ways to do stuff, such as haul water. That way you can place your toilet. And that's what I do," Shamel told the outlet.
According to Artemis Management, Blue Sky Acres was billed over $11,000 for water in two months, far above its usual monthly total of $1,400 to $1,700.
Artemis said Kronos MHP handles the account and that after management noticed water usage had jumped, it reached out to Muskogee County Rural Water District 1 but "did not receive any notice of the shut-off," per News on 6.
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More background
Residents told the station they saw a water meter leaking in May and June, though the explanation for the spike in usage has not been verified.
Shamel pointed directly to that issue.
"The only water leak comes from that building up there," he told News on 6.
The management company said the owners intended to pay the $11,290 balance Monday and that water service might take up to 48 more hours to return after the account is updated.
"Things like this shouldn't ever happen to start with. Because these people out here pay the bills. They just won't give up the money to pay their bills," Shamel told News on 6.
What's being done?
Artemis Management said that it contacted the water district and Muskogee County Emergency Management for help and had been "working around the clock with the park owners to resolve this issue."
The company told residents it was seeking emergency assistance to pay the balance.
Management also directed tenants to programs such as the Ki Bois Community Action Foundation of Muskogee, the Muscogee Nation Hardship Program, and Cherokee Nation Human Services while encouraging residents with tribal cards to check whether they qualified for emergency aid.
Residents in similar situations might want to work with landlords, ownership, or neighborhood governing bodies to improve protections, conditions, and transparency, even changing bylaws to start the process.
"I enjoy living out here. And I don't ever want to move. … It's hard for me to start all over someplace again," Shamel told News on 6.
Where can I learn more?
Elsewhere, fights over water bills, shutoff threats, and basic access also have upended daily life. These stories look at steep meter charges, unexplained outages, and wasteful water practices.
• In Texas, residents fought a $4,500 meter demand before officials threatened to cut service.
• In Pennsylvania, a retiree lost water as data center usage stirred questions over responsibility.
• A tenant said landlord-mandated lawn irrigation drove up a water bill neighbors called absurd.
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