At Sandy Hills Estates in Valencia, the tap may be flowing again, but trust has not returned. Residents say repeated boil-water advisories, chlorine-monitoring problems and a revolving door of park managers have turned bottled water into a household staple. No advisory is currently active, but the water system remains under state scrutiny.
A report by CBS Pittsburgh found that Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection reports show multiple outstanding drinking-water violations at the community. Inspectors cited repeated problems monitoring chlorine and said the system lacked equipment capable of accurately measuring elevated chlorine concentrations, while low disinfectant levels previously triggered boil-water advisories.
The concerns are part of a broader regulatory fight involving Stackhouse Management, which operates multiple mobile-home communities in Butler County. In February, the Butler Eagle reported that DEP gave Stackhouse until Feb. 21 to submit a written corrective-action plan addressing violations at several parks, including Sandy Hill Estates.
Residents Say Bottled Water Is Still The Safer Bet
For residents, official notices do not erase the daily experience of using the system. Jennifer Simpson told CBS Pittsburgh she will not drink the water and has no faith in a fix, while Christina Lennon said it can smell “like a swimming pool” and that residents use it only for laundry or showering; Simpson’s blunt assessment was, “I don’t trust it.”
Lennon also said residents have had 17 park managers since 2019 and that the park owner has not addressed their concerns. Stackhouse did not respond to repeated inquiries by Monday evening, though an employee said the questions would be forwarded to the company’s attorney, according to the report.
The state-level backdrop helps explain why testing and reporting are central to the dispute. Pennsylvania DEP’s 2024 compliance report counted 12 boil-water advisories involving community water systems statewide and found that small systems made up 82% of the state’s community systems.
DEP Says Monitoring And Corrections Continue
DEP says Stackhouse remains within the state’s compliance timeline for correcting the violations and that inspectors continue to monitor the Sandy Hills system. That leaves residents with an important distinction: the boil notices may be off for now, but the system still has to earn back their confidence through consistent testing, reporting and maintenance.
