Homeless in San Jose struggle to find clean water sources.
Dozens of homeless people living in San Jose’s Columbus Park have been struggling to get clean drinking water as the park’s fountains have been running intermittently for weeks.
Residents living in trailers and vehicles said they used to get drinking water from the park’s fountains, but the city cut off their supply for at least two months. Some went back to collecting water in containers from a tap for bathing, washing hands and cooking. But when the tap was cut off in mid-March, residents had to limit their bathing and rely on activists to bring them drinking water or find another source of water elsewhere.
Water returned to the fountains and faucets the day after San Jose Spotlight inquired about the situation last week, but has since dried up again. There are at least 50 occupied vehicles in Columbus Park.
Residents expressed frustration at going without water for so long.
“When they turn off the water, it’s hard to give our animals water. They don’t know how hard it is here,” Courtney Hayes, 26, told the San Jose Spotlight. “It’s scary because what if there’s a fire? Right now, people are lighting fires for warmth.”
Teresa, a resident who declined to give her last name for privacy reasons, had to walk about a mile to another water tap and carry her jugs back to camp.
“People who are elderly, disabled or mentally ill don’t know where to get water,” she told the San Jose Spotlight. “There are a lot of them here.”
Lately, more people have been flocking to Columbus Park, homeless residents told the San Jose Spotlight. Teresa recently moved to the park from Commercial Street after the city cleaned up the area. San Jose has stepped up street sweeps and implemented temporary measures. Banning recreational vehicles in designated areas under a pilot programme that began earlier this year.
Parks, Recreation and Neighbourhood Services spokeswoman Amanda Rodriguez said San Jose Water shut off the tap because of problems with the backflow prevention device, which prevents contamination of the water supply to the irrigation system. She also said the city shut off the water sources because they were constantly being vandalised.
“There is no plan to repair (the backflow preventer) before we begin construction of the new park in Columbus Park, which would begin in early 2026 if the council approves (the master plan),” Rodriguez told the San Jose Spotlight.
However, a representative from San Jose Water told the San Jose Spotlight that they do not monitor backflow prevention devices or shut off the water supply for this reason. They only shut it off when there is a leak to avoid wasting water. The representative was unable to determine if there were any leaks from the meters. The municipality manages backflow prevention devices, the representative explained.
The water in the park has been turned off regularly, said Scott Largent, an advocate for the homeless. The area used to have several water fountains, but the city removed them, leaving two in the dog park, which he said were the residents’ main source of drinking water. But because the city shut down the fountains for more than two months, people were forced to drink unsafe water, he explained.
“Developing countries provide clean water to people in war-torn areas, but we can’t do that here,” Largent told the San Jose Spotlight. “No one in need should ever be deprived of clean water. This is a new low for San Jose.”
The water that comes out of the tap is connected to the irrigation system. Irrigation water can be contaminated with fertiliser, animal waste, pathogens or heavy metals.
Hayes avoided drinking tap water because it made her sick. She relied on people bringing bottled water to the camp after the city shut off the water sources. But others continued to drink from the tap, she said.
“I don’t know what was in it, I vomited even after boiling it,” she said. “People were getting sick.”
