SAN ANTONIO — Hannah Johnson, 78, watched from her window as SAWS repaired a leak in the street back on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. She said the SAWS crew hit a main line and sent a geyser of water up into the air. They eventually fixed it, but the repair sent sediment and debris into Johnson's water line and then into her home appliances.
Her shower lost water pressure, filling the washing machine took an hour, she had to boil water to cook, and her toilet tank took forever to refill. It was difficult, as Johnson is disabled and gets around with a walker, but neighbors helped out.
"These people were bringing water over here just to flush the toilet," Johnson said.
Johnson made a claim with SAWS to try and get them to pay to remove the debris. She also started contacting plumbers and getting estimates.
Still, one month later, her claim had yet to be resolved. Johnson said the people in the SAWS claim center were extremely friendly but it sounded like their management had yet to move the claim forward. Finally, her niece had enough.
"When I talked to my niece she said, 'that shouldn't be. You shouldn't be going though that, you are in handicapped conditions.'"
Johnson's niece called KENS 5.
KENS 5 came to Johnson's house, documented the situation, and contacted SAWS the next morning. Johnson said SAWS sent a representative to her home the same day KENS 5 contacted SAWS, but she said the representative just collected information she had already given them.
Johnson said SAWS offered to pay her claim the next week but they would only pay for the lowest plumbing estimate she received, which was less than $750. Johnson had another estimate from Goettl that would flush out her pipes and appliances, but that estimate cost around $3,900.
“I don’t do them like that. I’ve made sure they get paid on time, every month I’ve been in this house, for 50 years,” Johnson said. “They’ve never had to say ‘where is your payment?'”
Still, Johnson said SAWS refused to pay even half of the larger bill. At the same time, SAWS only told KENS "We have different numbers we are looking at now."
Johnson was stuck.
Finally, KENS 5 called Goettl Air Conditioning and Plumbing and explained that SAWS was refusing to pay the whole bill. Goettl General Manager and Director of Plumbing Henry Rodriguez told KENS he would have a team come out to Johnson's home the next day and see what they could do.
The next day, Goettl decided to repair Johnson's plumbing for free.
"After speaking to the technicians and speaking to her, it just made sense to take care of her," Rodriguez said. "She had been a great customer for us in the past and this was something that she didn't even cause. This wasn't her doing. Because of that, we looked at this as an opportunity to give back to her."
Rodriguez said the crew cleaned out pipes, cleaned out the lines to the washing machine, and flushed dirt and sediment out of Johnson's plumbing system among other things. He said the whole job took around three hours.
"Her water heater was completely full of sediment," Rodriguez said.
Most importantly, the repairs worked. Johnson had clear water that she no longer needed to boil, she could flush her toilets, and she could take a regular hot shower once more.
"It was amazing. I just started crying when their head man sat down on my little raggedy couch and just asked 'what problem are you having?'"
Johnson said the master plumber and team Goettl sent out fixed everything so it worked the same as before the issue started. She had missed the showers the most.
"(The plumber) he said, 'Ms. Johnson you can take your first good hot shower today. I just started crying. I didn't think this problem would ever be solved."
KENS 5 did reach back out to SAWS for a comment.
A SAWS spokeswoman said in an email, " We have been working with the customer who received two increasingly high quotes from plumbers. Finally, the plumbing contractor cleared her line for free, so we are reimbursing her for incidental costs."
SAWS would not tell KENS how much that reimbursement was for but Johnson said it would likely be around $200.
Johnson was just thankful Goettl took action.
"I was so thankful that I told everybody I knew that I had a blessing at my house," Johnson said.
Johnson also said she's thankful her niece called KENS 5. "If you can't handle something and you are at the last point of trying to do it yourself, call Channel 5," Johnson said.
If you have a problem like this, we want to help you fix it! In our series, Call KENS, we do our best to solve problems for our viewers. The number to call is 210-470-KENS, or fill out the form on this page.