The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has issued a boil water advisory for the following public water supply systems that purchase water from the City of Wichita:
Sedgwick Co RWD 1 City of Rose Hill City of Valley Center
Sedgwick Co RWD 2 City of Kechi
Sedgwick Co RWD 3 El Paso Water Co. (City of Derby)
Customers should observe the following precautions until further notice:
- 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 icemaker.
- If your tap water appears dirty, flush the water lines by letting the water run until it clears.
- 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. Supervision of children is necessary while bathing so that water is not ingested. Persons with cuts or severe rashes may wish to consult their physicians.
The advisory took effect on June 7 and will remain in effect until the conditions that placed the system at risk of bacterial contamination are resolved. KDHE officials issued the advisory because of high turbidity in the treated water purchased from the City of Wichita. High turbidity can lead to a loss of chlorine residual levels and may result in microbial contamination.
Regardless of whether the public water supplier or Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) announced a boil water advisory, only KDHE can issue the rescind order following testing at a certified laboratory.
For consumer questions, please contact your water system or KDHE at 785-296-5514. For consumer information please visit KDHE’s PWS Consumer Information webpage: kdhe.ks.gov/WaterDisruption
Restaurants and other food establishments that have questions about the impact of the boil water advisory on their business can contact the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s food safety & lodging program at [email protected] or call 785-564-6767.
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