RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — Consultant company US Water announced the city of Riviera Beach had equipment, which wasn't installed, for over a year that could help solve some water issues.
WPTV has been closely following Riviera Beach's water quality issues this year, which led to the firing of utility director Michael Low in July.
Wednesday night was US Water's first time addressing city council after being hired two weeks ago.
"Are you kidding me? When I heard that I sat straight up on my couch," said Shandra Stringer.
Stringer, a 23-year Riviera Beach resident, watched the meeting online after advocating for cleaner water for months.
"The next day leadership should've been on site doing an inventory of all equipment on-site, looking at what went wrong, how can it be fixed," said Stringer.
Mike Miller with US Water said they've already started installing some of the equipment.
WATCH: Riviera Beach City Manager Jonathan Evans suspended
Now-suspended City Manager Jonathan Evans said the equipment wasn’t installed as “previous leadership” intended to sell it.
"How can you honestly go home at night and sleep knowing that somebody’s life is in your hands?" said Stringer.
US Water will manage, train staff, and make repairs they say could improve the water quality and color within six weeks.
"I can hear of everybody when it comes to their water quality,” said Mike Miller with US water. "We have an obligation as professionals in wastewater industry, in sustainability, to follow those principals to ensure that the water quality that the people are expecting reaches a certain level where they feel comfortable."
They’re on a six-month contract for $1.2 million.
"If we paying our taxes, why we can’t get clean water?" asked a Riviera Beach resident who went by the name John.
He's lived in Riviera Beach for over 60 years.
"Do you have any faith in the city leaders right now?" asked Lopez.
"No, and I've grown up with a couple of them," said John.
In their time, US Water is also tasked with training staff and assessing their skill level.
"The operators have been absolutely open and have been outstanding and they want to learn," said Miller.
It is not clear if the city will extend US Water's six-month contract to help with future training or repairs.
As for Stringer and John, they say it's time for more city leaders to be held accountable.
“If the right people was in place, the equipment you say that was sitting over there, it wouldn’t be sitting there for a year, they’d had been did what they had to do," said John.
