‘Something we were prepared for’: Water advisory won’t halt Riverfest food, beverages

Riverfest visitors will still be able to get their food court fix while the city of Wichita is under a boil water advisory.

“Yes it affected us because of boil advisories for the rest of the city, but it was something we were prepared for,” said Riverfest public relations coordinator Jenny Venn.

Vendors in the food court are using boiled water to prepare beverages. And they already use a three-step sanitation process when washing dishes to kill any contamination, Venn said.

Dishes are washed in warm water with dish detergent, then rinsed with warm water, then placed in sanitizer water for at least 30 seconds. The temperature of the sanitizer water is supposed to be set at 171 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.

Vendors test the water to make sure there’s no contamination and that the temperature is high enough.

One caveat for Riverfest visitors on Wednesday night: Anyone wanting to fill up their water bottles should be aware that the fillup station tanks on Douglas and Water and the Kids Corner area will not be filled again until the boil advisory ends. The tanks were filled before the boil advisory was issued and still have a lot of water left in them, Venn said Wednesday.

According to the city of Wichita, the boil advisory could end by early Thursday.