SAN ANTONIO — Taps will run dry by 9:30 a.m. Wednesday if the managers of a northwest-side apartment complex don't pay a long-overdue water bill.
A SAWS spokesman said the Executive Apartments on De Chantle off Fredericksburg Road owes more than $35,000.
The complex has had plenty of time to bring their account up to date, according to the water company, which posted warning notices on doors throughout the complex Monday morning. The door hangars advised tenants to fill bathtubs with water for toilet flushing and to pre-fill containers for drinking water.
A SAWS spokesman said that, of six complexes they targeted for long overdue bills, five paid up. Only Executive remains in arrears.
Resident Melvin Rhodes left his apartment to walk his service dog, Brownie, and found one of the warning notices on his door.
Of a continuing series of maintenance challenges, Rhodes said, "We don't know what's going on day to day."
Rhodes said they all pay their bills on time and part of the rent money is supposed to be applied to water service. But "what they're doing with the money, I don't know," Rhodes said.
Neighbor Sharlotte Anderson agreed, saying she tried to take the complex into arbitration over long-term issues left unaddressed. The process went nowhere, Anderson charged.
"There have been water leaks and water and sewer problems," Anderson said, speculating that the troubles may have played a role in the big overdue bill.
Tax records indicate the complex, built in the mid-1960s, is on the rolls with a value of $3 million.
Many of the tenants are of limited resources.
"I don't think they're going to pay it and I don't know what we're going to do," Anderson said.
Tax records indicate the complex is owned by a parent company in Southlake, Texas. A call to their office has yet to be returned.