NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Newport News Waterworks currently has a backlog of active water leaks due to staffing shortages. However, after News 3 did a story this spring, city officials tell us they're in a much better position.
“Waterworks has shown quite a bit of improvement. We’ve been really pleased since you ran the story, that we’ve had a lot more interest in our positions and our job fairs so it’s been a real win,” said director of HR Allison Dichoso.
Dichoso said their openings dropped from 86 to 62 vacancies after our story aired in March.
“We are doing great we are making great progress, overall for the city we are up 20% from last year,” said Dichoso.
The number of leaks on the list has also decreased from 155 to 139. Hampton resident Curtis Wright notified News 3 of an active water leak on his road, South Fallon Court, in March. We responded.
“The water was just bubbling up out of the ground, all of the cars that were parked there, some of the water was up above on the rims of the cars,” said Wright.
A month after our story aired, Newport News Waterworks came out and fixed the leak.
“We’re just so tickled that Channel 3 stepped in and helped us out,” said Wright.
However there are still a lot of active leaks on the Peninsula; Dichoso told News 3 they could definitely use more folks on the team.
“Right now, we have a lot of early entry level careers open so for those who have little experience or no experience we’re really the employer of choice to train them up,” said Dichoso.
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