City says it’s optimistic about chances of boil water advisory ending Saturday
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Wichita boil water advisory
A major Wichita water main break on Oct. 7, 2021, led the Kansas Department of Heath and Environment to place the city and others that purchase water from its system under a boil water advisory.
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Wichita city officials are still searching for answers on what caused a main waterline to burst Thursday afternoon near McAdams Park, rendering the city’s water unsafe to drink without boiling it.
But they are optimistic that the city’s water will be safe to drink this weekend, said Alan King, director of public works and utilities.
Schools, businesses and day care services across the city shuttered Friday as a precaution.
While the system remains under the boil-water advisory until the city gets the all-clear from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, there are indicators that things could be back to normal early Saturday, King said.
“In addition to the sampling that we have to give to KDHE to lift the advisory, we also did some chlorine residual testing at the same time” he said. “And when you have chlorine in the water, you’re also pretty sure you don’t have bacteria in the water.”
“The chlorine is a disinfectant and when there’s bacteria still in the water, your chlorine residual goes to zero.
“We had chlorine residuals all over our system so we’re confident the system did not suffer any contamination, but we’re erring on the side of caution to make sure we follow the KDHE protocols of testing and going that 24-hour period of time to incubate those samples that we have so that we can talk to them early Saturday morning.”
The city is required by federal law to follow water testing protocols.
Lifting the advisory would be welcome news to more than a half a million people and businesses who rely on Wichita’s water system to survive. On Thursday afternoon, the state placed Wichita water customers under a boil water advisory, meaning potable water should be brought to a rolling boil for at least one minute, the longer is better, before consumption.
Many businesses that rely on clear water closed their services Thursday night and all day Friday. A return to normal water use would require test results verified by KDHE that show the water is safe and clear of bacteria and other pathogens.
If the city fails, it has two plans, King said.
Plan A would include lifting the boil advisory for some parts of the city and continuing to require water to be boiled in targeted areas where test results show bacteria or low chlorine levels. Plan B would include setting up two distribution stations somewhere in the city to provide no-cost clean water to anyone who wants it.
City of Wichita water customers should take the following precautions until the boil advisory ends:
▪ Boil water for one minute prior to drinking or food preparation or use bottled water.
▪ Dispose of ice cubes and do not use ice from a household automatic ice maker.
▪ Disinfect dishes and other food contact surfaces by immersion for at least one minute in clean tap water that contains one teaspoon of unscented household bleach per gallon of water.
▪ Water used for bathing does not generally need to be boiled.
▪ Supervise children while they’re bathing and make sure water is not ingested.
▪ Persons with cuts or severe rashes may wish to consult their physicians.
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 1:30 PM.
