Kenmore homeowner seeks answers on brown water coming into his home

KENMORE, N.Y. (WIVB) - For years, a Kenmore man has complained of dirty water in his home -- affecting almost every aspect of his life -- and he's contacting Call 4 Action.

Tim Miller provided News 4 with pictures showing the drinking water inside his home. This drinking water looks more like swamp water. It's an issue Tim says he's been dealing with for five years.

Tim says when he bought his home on Hiler Avenue, he had no idea there were water issues.

"I can't brush my teeth, I can't drink water out of the faucet, I take my white laundry to a relative's house because the water's so brown," Tim said.

And, he routinely buys jugs of water for cooking and cleaning. Tim says he installed a water filter in his basement.

"This is what comes into my house," he said, showing how brown his filters get. Tim has complained constantly to village officials about the problem.

"I don't know what you do, I've gone to the town, I've gone to board meetings everybody knows about this but I can't move. I love Kenmore, I just don't like the water that's coming into my house," he said.

News 4 contacted village officials about the problem. The public works department which had the water tested says the water is safe and that they're working hard on this issue, digging up the front of Tim's home numerous times, replacing valves, and flushing the system weekly, but the problem still exists.

"I have no clue where its coming from," Tim said.

The water department says they've only gotten complaints from Tim about the drinking water here. All this as the Village of Kenmore considers a property tax hike of over five percent.

"It's a huge tax increase and my house is less than a 1,000 square feet and I'm paying close to $6,000 a year in taxes with water that I can't drink, can't brush my teeth can't do laundry," Tim said.

For the past three months, Tim says he's been paying his water bill under protest. He doesn't feel good about selling his house with the water the way it is. On that proposed tax hike, the village board will take up the budget Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.