On Friday, May 17, about 2 p.m., I arrived home to find we had no water. I began a search for a phone number to report the problem.

1. Call to Dunkirk Water Department. This is where we pay our water bill. The response was, they didn’t know anything about a water shut off. “They” were tying in water supply to, “Somewhere” Referred to Dunkirk DPW.

2. Called DPW. Was told they had nothing to do with it. Called North Chautauqua County Water District. I left message for someone in charge to return my call.

3. Called 792-1900, number given to me by DPW. Was told the water would be off until at least 3:30 p.m. Person didn’t know why customers weren’t notified, and didn’t have any contact numbers.

4. Looked for contacts online. Found a list of Board of Directors, included my town Supervisor, John Walker. I called Sheridan Town Hall. Now it was 3:45 PM. Left a message for a return call. On May 20, no return call.

5. Finally called Dunkirk OBSERVER to find out if they had a list of contact numbers. They made a couple of calls. 4:10 p.m. water is back on.

6. 4:15 Received call from Randy Woodbury, Dunkirk DPW. He was concerned, but had no contact numbers.

My concern is this: we pay our water bill and a maintenance fee to Dunkirk water. My water was turned off WITHOUT NOTICE, for at least 2 1/2 hours. I had no one to contact. The amount paid in maintenance should at least cover a 24-hour emergency phone. It seems, we are only paying for City of Dunkirk water breaks. Is there a North Chautauqua County Water District, or is this just another scam or smokescreen?

Virginia Hughes is a town of Sheridan resident.