For 11 days, the residents of a Charles Village rowhouse have had no water.
They carry jugs of water from a nearby cafe to keep their pets alive. They've resorted to using snow to flush their toilets.
"We can't do dishes. We can't do laundry. We can't use our shower," says Monica Amneus, a 24-year-old illustrator. "And no one will give us a straight answer."
Amneus and her five fellow tenants are among hundreds of Baltimore residents who are without water in what city officials acknowledge is an urgent situation. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday that the city has established a new "command center" staffed 24 hours a day to respond to water issues. City officials have extended public works employees' shifts to 12 hours a day and tripled the number of inspectors investigating water problems, from seven to 21.
"I hear your frustration," Rawlings-Blake said at a news conference to address the widespread problems. "We're using all the resources we have."
More than 8,000 residents of Baltimore and Baltimore County have reported water leaks or being without water this month — and nearly 6,000 of those complaints have yet to be resolved. The Department of Public Works estimates that hundreds of those people are without water but says the number could be higher.
The problems shot up sharply beginning around Presidents Day, when brutal cold burst pipes in homes, schools and businesses around the Baltimore area, city officials said. About half of the city's 400,000 water customers are in Baltimore County.
There are currently about 20 water main breaks in Baltimore's system, but also numerous frozen water meters causing problems for residents. City officials have put in 846 orders for new water meters since Feb. 15.
City officials did not immediately have an estimate on how much the stepped-up response to water problems will cost.
"This below-freezing temperature has really stressed our city's infrastructure," Rawlings-Blake said. "We are currently working through thousands of calls for service from residents struggling with the aftereffects of water main breaks, frozen pipes and flooded basements. I know these things are extremely frustrating."
Four days after the last snow, the city is still working to get all of its streets fully plowed, the mayor said.
"This has been a particularly rough season," Rawlings-Blake said. "We are still responding to calls for service for snow removal."
Some days have been particularly bad for water problems. On Feb. 16, 1,218 residents reported water leaks or being without water. On Feb. 20, 1,365 more filed similar complaints. Three days ago, 913 more such complaints were lodged.
For Amneus, problems began on Feb. 15, when the Maryland Institute College of Art student woke to find her water out. She and the other tenants in the 3100 block of Calvert St. have called their rental property manager and the city's 311 system every day since, with no resolution. She said a broken pipe on Calvert Street has been running water into the street for days.
"There has been a constant river running down Calvert ... but still no response," Amneus said. "We've reached out to everyone we can think of, and no one is offering solutions or help."
Darlene Harenberg, the broker for Star Property Management, landlord for Amneus' property, said her company investigated the matter and believes the city is responsible for repairs. Pipes broken on public property must be repaired by city government, but those that break on private property are the responsibility of the property owner.
"We had a bunch [of water outages], but that's the worst one," Harenberg said of the Charles Village rowhouse. "We've had plumbers look at it. It's on the city's side of the meter."
Harenberg said the property lost water because its water meter froze, and finally a connecting pipe broke, spilling water into the roadway.
"It was a chunk of ice for a long time. It finally broke loose, and now there's water pouring out of it," she said. "We've been calling regularly for this and other issues. This is one of hundreds."
After receiving inquires from The Baltimore Sun, Jeffrey Raymond, spokesman for the Department of Public Works, said Wednesday that the city was dispatching an inspector to Amneus' house.
Public Works Director Rudy Chow said city workers are responding to problems as fast as they can. He said he knows residents have been "hit hard."
"For those people who are still waiting for service to be restored, we know that you are bearing a heavy burden," Chow said. "I'm committed to serving you and all of our customers with the highest urgency."
Chow said workers are giving "first priority" to the oldest calls or those where there is a fear that someone's life is in danger due to the water outage. He said the water meters are designed to burst in frozen temperatures, rather than pipes breaking.
"The meter is designed to be the weakest link in the system," Chow said.
Chow added that efforts to replace meters and pipes have run into problems when residents weren't home at the time of the repair.
"We don't want to restore water when no one is in the house," he said. "We don't want to flood the house. If we don't get a response, we move on to the next house."
Baltimore has been in the process of replacing 400,000 water meters as part of systemwide overhaul to install wireless technology. Chow said the new meters are not more susceptible to freezing or breaking in the cold.
"We have frozen meters obviously," he said. "It has nothing to do with whether it's the new meter or any existing meter."
Whatever the cause, Amneus said, she just wants to have running water again.
"We're going on two weeks without water," she said. "The whole situation is criminal and immensely frustrating."
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