Apartment tenants go a week without water

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Residents of an Albuquerque apartment complex left without water for a week are turning to buckets and garden hoses to bathe, cook and clean.

Their landlord claims he's been trying to fix the problem, but the city says he's not trying hard enough.

Half of the tenants in the complex at Tennessee Avenue and Zuni Road SE say they have water.

The other half doesn't.  One woman said she hadn't had water for seven days.

She is among residents who've been using buckets and outside hoses to fill them up for the last week. 

Landlord Joe Valdez showed up late Tuesday afternoon saying the problem is a broken pipe he's been trying to fix.  

Valdez wasn't clear about whether he'd hired a plumber but did say he didn't have $10,000 to pay the company.

Late Tuesday afternoon the director of the Safe City Strike Force showed up and said the landlord is required to provide water for the tenants for health reasons.

Valdez told the city he would to try and hook up temporary water during the evening. 

The city says if the landlord doesn't help these people and have his repairs completed Wednesday, the city will arrange to put the residents in temporary housing.

If it comes to that, the city will pass along those costs to the landlord even if it means filing a lien against the property.