© Lucy Nicholson / Reuters
Florida's Lowell Correctional Institution, which holds female offenders between the ages of 14 and 24, as well as pregnant women, has been without running water for several days.
Some inmates have reportedly had to pay for drinking water.
Weekend storms caused damage to the prison's water pumps, said Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) officials. The geothermal line, which helps cool the non-air conditioned prison, was also damaged.
Over 2,000 inmates were left without running water for days until part of the supply was repaired on Tuesday. Officials say the water is not drinkable until more tests have been made.
"The test and waiting period are to ensure the water is safe to drink. Until then, drinking water is being brought in continuously," said Ashley Cook, press secretary for the FDOC.
Some inmates have told friends and relatives they have had to pay for drinking water, the Miami Herald
reported on Monday.
"They say they're bringing water in, but they're telling the girls they have to buy it off the canteen,'' a former Lowell inmate wrote on Facebook.
Comment: This isn't the first time Lowell Correctional Institution has been in the news. Various complaints have been filed concerning sexual abuse by guards.
'It's like a predator's playground': Reports of rampant abuse at one of America's largest women's prisons