On Tuesday, Sept. 6, the water running through the on-campus dormitories was yellow and brown. With the surprise of undrinkable water, students were unsure of what to do.
“I was planning on showering until I saw the color of the water,” Deonte Williams, a freshman business major, said. “I thought I wasn’t going to be able to use the water all night until housing sent out an email.”
Daren Dauzat, the assistant director of residence life sent out an email to all residents living in university places and columns dorms informing them of the situation and giving instructions on how to proceed.
The email obtained by the Current Sauce says that the City of Natchitoches utility department showed up on campus doing fire hydrant testing without informing anyone, which caused no warning or notice to be sent to students in advance.
Lillie Cloudet, a senior criminal justice and computer information systems major said “I don’t really trust Natchitoches to begin with so I definitely wouldn’t trust them to tell us about the water situation.”
Speaking of the city, Cloudet said, “They are kind of in their own world and don’t realize this kind of messes with students’ day-to-day life.”
Some weren’t surprised by the inconvenience.
“This was something I’ve come to expect,” Chris Gray, a sophomore addiction studies major said. “There seems to always be something going on.”
The water issue ultimately lands on the city’s utility department and the fire hydrant testing.
The utility department for Natchitoches has not responded for comment.