Officials Learn Oak Creek Man Had No City Water Since 2014

OAK CREEK, WI — Authorities in Oak Creek say a local resident was temporarily barred from living in his own home after city officials with the health department learned the resident hadn't been living with city water since 2014 and couldn't confirm that he had a functional water source in the home.

In speaking with the Oak Creek Health Department on Tuesday, officials said city ordinances require the confirmation of a functional water supply in the home. No specific requirement for city water exists, officials said.

According to Oak Creek police call logs, an officer accompanied by an official with the health department knocked on the door of a resident on the 2200 block of E. Forest Hill just before 8 a.m. on July 9 on a report that the resident had no running city water.

Police call logs stated that the officer and health department worker spoke with the homeowner, who said he had a pipe burst in 2014 and hadn't fixed it. Instead, he converted his property over to well water and hadn't had any trouble since.

According to police, when the homeowner refused to allow the officer and health department official inside, the health department official posted a placard on the front of the home, stating the resident couldn't live there until the water was fixed.

Health officials say the placard was placed on the home because at the time, they couldn't confirm if the home had functioning well water. Later that day, police call logs stated the officer removed the placard from the resident's home, on the condition that the health department would allow the homeowner adequate time to confirm the home's water supply.

In speaking with Oak Creek officials, they advised that whenever a homeowner is making the switch from city water to well water that they call the Oak Creek Water Utility to notify the utility of the change so it's properly recorded in city records.