CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – Residents tell 13 News that Building 1311 in Vista View Apartments has been without hot water since December.

13 News sent a crew to the building with a water thermometer to test the temperature of the hot water. The warmest water was at 64 degrees.

Without hot water, residents say they have had to find other ways to shower. Some leave their apartments entirely and shower at a family member’s house and others take cold showers only a few times a week.

Parents tell me in order to shower their children, they have to boil a pot of water, let it cool down, then pour it into their bathtub. They say that process can take up to two hours.

Kimberly King is a grandmother and says this is the only way she can shower her grand-child.

“I have to boil water, let it cool down, and then put him in the water,” King said. “I have to make sure it’s not too hot, not too cold for him. My grandson needs bathing, we can’t bathe him in cold water.”

Victoria Graves has three kids and lives in Vista View and says she has to boil pots of water to bathe all of them.

“I had to boil water and wash one of them and then boil water and wash the other one while taking care of the other one who’s screaming because he’s hungry,” Graves said.

According to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s website, Vista View is opened by an LCC in the Chicago area. The city of Charleston calls it a public housing project, where most residents are low-income.

Earlier this evening, Vista View Apartments posted a notice apologizing to tenants in the building. They say they are looking to replace the current boiler system, and repairs should be made within the next few weeks. But there is no word on when the water will be back on at this time.