Photo by Bill Green Ronnie Hahn shows the connection where a water hose from his neighbor’s house connects to his Knoxville home’s water spigot. Hahn has been unable to get water from Brunswick. Purchase this photo

For two months, John Pfeifer has been supplying his Knoxville neighbors with water because the Hahns' well deteriorated and then collapsed.

Knoxville receives its water from Brunswick , which also supplies Rosemont and some areas of Washington County and Loudoun County, Va.

Brunswick is not issuing water hookups outside the city, according to City Administrator David Dunn.

Pfeifer has been connected to the Brunswick city water system since 1995, when his well was condemned. He said only two people on his block have wells.

Ronnie Hahn said he has replaced the well pump three times in 17 years; this would have been the fourth time. A plumber told the couple it is not worth repairing, and the Hahns would either have to drill a new well or connect to the city water system, Pfeifer said.

The Frederick County Health Department is aware of the Hahns' problem, said George Keller, director of environmental health.

The Health Department wrote a letter to the City of Brunswick on behalf of the residents, asking that Brunswick consider connecting the property to the city water system, Keller said.

When the issue was brought up at the May 12 council meeting, Brunswick council members denied the request in a unanimous vote.

"The city has consistently refused to issue new taps outside the city limits per ordinance," Dunn said in an e-mail.

Since Brunswick denied the request, Pfeifer said the Hahns got in touch with Frederick County to work on the problem. Working with Dave Gatrell, program manager of the individual well and septic division, they plan to take the issue to the state.

Hahn said the Maryland Department of Health has the power to compel Brunswick to allow them into the water system. The process could take about a year, Hahn said.

"I can't have a waterline laying on top of the ground here in the winter," he said. "That's my concern."

Hahn and Pfeifer said the Brunswick -Rosemont water dispute contributed to the Hahns' complications.

"I have no water," Hahn said. "The people in Rosemont have water, they're just fighting over who's going to fix the broken waterlines."

Pfeifer called the situation "ridiculous."

Keller said, "In this particular instance, the fact that prior wells have been drilled and have subsequently failed is why we had written on behalf of the resident to urge Brunswick to connect."

He said it is not practical to drill an additional well that may not prove fruitful.

The neighbors have set up a garden hose from Pfeifer's house to the Hahns'.

"They wouldn't be able to have flushing toilets if we didn't offer the assistance of water from the hose," Pfeifer said.

"If I had a house and I didn't have neighbors nearby, I don't know what I'd be doing," Hahn said.

The Hahns have offered to pay Pfeifer for their water usage.