Hot Water Issues Resolved

In Bluefield, the cold winter weather has definitely stuck around. After a busy day of being a college student out in the cold, students look forward to taking a hot shower at the end of the day.

Unfortunately, this has been a recent concern for residents living on campus in Rish Hall who have been vocal lately about hot water issues. A number of students in Rish say they have gone many times to take a shower only to find hot water unavailable.

Those issues, according to Bluefield College’s Jess Smith, director of residence life, have been resolved. Smith said the problems occurred after a resident in Rish “broke a pipe and flooded the basement without alerting anyone.” As a result, she said water remained on for several hours, altering the hot water heating system for half of the residents of Rish Hall.

Smith said college maintenance workers worked on the system several times, but the issue would just reoccur. After several failed attempts, a plumber came and replaced a unit, and since then there have been no further problems.

The Rish Hall incident has not been the only issue concerning water on campus. In the fall, residents in East River Hall were without water for several days. This, however, was caused by circumstances outside of the college’s control. Pipes in the area were being worked on at the time, which affected water availability on campus.

“We did provide alternatives for showering, laundry, and provided water bottles for drinking and brushing teeth,” said Smith about the fall water issues in East River. That event, she added, happened over a weekend, so not many students were affected.

In light of the recent water issues, Smith reminded students that if problems occur in resident halls, students are encouraged to report them to a resident assistant (RA) or resident hall director (RHD), who will make sure the problems are addressed as soon as possible.