Forget diamonds and jewels. The one thing Marie Burton values most is water.
"It's precious as gold," said Burton.
She doesn't have any water at her home in Evington. Her well has died up.
Showers in her own bathroom are rare. Using the kitchen faucet is a luxury.
"You turn it on sometimes and you have water, but you might turn it on and have nothing," Burton said.
She can't even use her own washing machine. Her clothes have to be cleaned at a laundromat.
The problem has been going on for years. She's tried digging new wells at least five different times. Nothing has worked.
"It's very frustrating when you don't have water and you never know when you're going to have water," said Burton.
She's not alone. Dozens of others in her neighborhood are having the same problem and they're asking county supervisors for help.
"I would like for the county to extend the water line out here," said Burton.
The closest public water line runs along Leesville Road, about three miles from Burton's house. An extension would cost about $1.5-million.
"It could be costly, but it's better than drilling a well and not getting any water," Burton said.
The idea has been looked at in the past.
"Water in Evington has been a problem for decades," said Campbell County Administrator, David Laurrell, who studied the water line extension in 2005.
"There were only a handful of people, at the time, who had the willingness or the resources to pay for the construction costs required to do that," Laurrell said.
Little has changed in the last eight years, but the county is trying to find an affordable solution.
"One of the things we want to go ahead and do this time is have a conversation about whether there's anything we can do differently that what we're doing right now, to provide water for the folks in that area," Laurrell said.
Burton and others in her neighborhood plan to speak on the water issue at Tuesday's board of supervisors' meeting. Burton said she's willing to help pay for the water line extension, if county leaders are willing to explore the idea again.
