Camp Hiill, Pa. - Camp Hill Mayor Lou Thieblemont doesn't mince words when it comes to the cause of a water main break on 21st Street Wednesday night.

He blames the water company.

"Is it cause and effect? I think so," Thieblemont said. "They tried to say the ground was chilled and so the pipes are breaking. Come on. We had one cold night."

Wednesday, Pennslyvania American Water officials began increasing water pressure to customers on the West Shore. They say it's because some customers complained about low pressure. They say the move will also help fire hydrants perform better in an emergency.

But Thieblemont says the only thing the added pressure is doing is causing headaches.

Aubrey Sledzinski lives on 17th Street. He was without water for four hours because of the break.

"If f they're going to do a little bit each day and this is just the beginning, I'd hate to see what the end's going to look like," Sledzinski said.

Plumber MIke Frank says he's running ragged trying to fix pressure related problems all over the West Shore.

"Water heaters, supply lines, facuets," Frank said. "I've had toilets that have so much pressure you flush them and the flappers won't even seal."

Pa. American Water spokesperson Joe Woodward says he isn't aware of those types of problems. He says customers were given adequate warning, and told to install a pressure reducing valve. 

"I think it's unfortunate beause there are actually customers of ours in Camp Hill borough that have low pressure," Woodward said. "We're also improving fire protection to all of Camp Hill borough by raising the pressure in our system."

Camp Hill borough officials filed an emergency petition, asking the Public Utilities Commission to order Pennsylvania American Water to stop increasing pressure. Agency officials could make a decision as early as Friday.

In the meantime, they encourage anyone who experiences a problem in their home to call a complaint hotline at 1-800-692-7380.

"We cannot award damages and do those types of things, but we do start a process that creates a record for consumers as they move through trying to fix the problems that they're having," said PUC Spokeswoman Jennifer Kocher.

"The only way we're going to get this fixed is to get together, to band together as a group of people and bring it to the table to force them to give us a good product," Thieblemont said.