KILLIAN - Nathan Lott lived in Killian for nine years when he worked there as a pastor. He had hoped to build his own home there.

"We actually bought land there, my wife and I when we first got married in 1998, but we sold it because the water was brown so we never built the house," Lott said.

Lott says the brown water isn't a recent problem.

"This is something that should've been addressed in the late 1900's, early 2000's. You're going back from my time to 26 years that this hasn't been corrected," Lott said. "Think about those kids who are waking up to get a glass of water and it comes out brown."

After weeks of water problems, the Louisiana Department of Health found that the Killian water system failed to comply with health codes and to provide drinkable water to residents.

Local officials have asked the state to declare an emergency, but state authorities countered that the problems do not amount to a crisis and can be fixed without the hundreds-of-thousands of dollars of repair work Killian officials say they need.

"As far as what the Governor has decided to do, I'm hopeful that they've done their research and say 'no the money is there or the money has already been given through grants, so we're not going to give more."

An LDH employee, who refused to answer questions without anonymity, says Killian has been co-operating with officials and probably won't get fined the threatened $333 a day.

Killian is required to return the well back to its original operating condition and disinfect it properly by Friday.