Boil Water Advisory In Effect For Augusta

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Reporter: KDHE News Release
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The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has issued a boil water advisory is in effect for the city of Augusta and Butler Rural Water District 4.

USD 402 has canceled school for Monday.

A line break resulted in a loss of pressure in the distribution system, making it possible for contaminants to enter the system. Also, chlorine residuals may drop to levels that are inadequate to protect against bacterial contamination. Crews completed repairs on the line break just before 10:00 Monday morning. They are working on restoring service.

Residents are being told to boil water for one minute before drinking it or cooking with it, or use bottled water. Residents should also dispose of ice cubes and avoid using ice from a household automatic ice maker. To clean dishes and other surfaces that come in contact with food, immerse them for at least one minute in clean tap water that contains one teaspoon of unscented household bleach per gallon of water.

All schools in Augusta, USD 402, will be closed Monday due to the water problems.

The boil water advisory is in effect until testing of water samples indicate no evidence of contamination.

Residents who have questions can call the City of Augusta Water Department at 316-775-4549.

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Comments are posted from viewers like you and do not always reflect the views of this station.

Posted by: Anon. Location: Augusta on Sep 11, 2008 at 03:27 PM
THE WATER IS NOW SAFE TO DRINK!!!

Posted by: Anon. Location: Augusta on Sep 10, 2008 at 09:51 PM
The boil order lift may be posted in the paper, on the city channel, or the news. And the time of the call depended on where you live in town my call was recieved at 2 am. That is when they new the towers were severly depleting

Posted by: cliff Location: wichita on Sep 10, 2008 at 02:20 PM
how are we to know when the boil water order has been rescinded?

Posted by: frustrated on Sep 10, 2008 at 12:44 PM
I'm glad the mayor has read these comments, I plan on calling her & city council members. Yes, I did receive a reverse 911 call at 1:25 AM! Hours later than everyone should have been notified & why in the middle of the night??

Posted by: Tiphanie Location: Augusta on Sep 10, 2008 at 11:47 AM
The mayor has been notified of your comments

Posted by: cliff Location: wichita on Sep 10, 2008 at 07:33 AM
check your water heaters, my sons overheated with no water and blew a thermal link. had to replace the thermostat.

Posted by: citizen Location: augusta on Sep 9, 2008 at 06:54 PM
the city did notify everyone with a reverse 911 call about the boil water order, that is if you have a phone and its working.

Posted by: greenmom Location: augusta on Sep 9, 2008 at 04:47 PM
i would just like to point out that "Kevin," who is obviously not enjoying his time in Kansas, should not throw stones considering he lives in a glass house (i.e. the spelling of IGNORANT).

Posted by: Tiphanie Location: Augusta on Sep 9, 2008 at 04:19 PM
Then go HOME

Posted by: Kevin Location: Augusta on Sep 9, 2008 at 04:00 PM
The comments here just go to prove how dumb and iggnorant Kansas residents are. I am not from Kansas (I had to move her for my job) but I am begining to think that iggornarance must be a required course in the schools here

Posted by: Tiphanie Location: Augusta on Sep 9, 2008 at 02:29 PM
I agree the city management should have contacted media sooner. But its done now. before people complain any more about the amount of time it took to fix, just remember it could have taken longer!!

Posted by: frustrated Location: Augusta on Sep 9, 2008 at 02:11 PM
I agree, Tiphanie you are taking this way too personally. No-one is blaming the city workers who repaired the leak. Who I'm frustrated with is the City of Augusta Management who was not there (talking with the media) to inform the citizens of what was going on. Yes, some people did have a "trickle" of water but just thought it was low water pressure like always and were drinking the water! The City did not inform anyone other than the crawl words at the top of Channel 7 and that is what is not acceptable!

Posted by: anne on Sep 9, 2008 at 01:26 PM
GREAT JOB water back up to regular pressure!!! Doesn't anyone camp anymore? It was no big deal. We lived through it:)

Posted by: Tiphanie Location: Augusta on Sep 9, 2008 at 11:35 AM
I will take it personal because my dad worked two days straight on that leak. So i know what its like on the other side of the fence. The break was so severe it drained the water towers that is why some people didnt have water. I had water the entire time to boil. so not every one was with out. And yes the time frame could not be set in stone. Sometimes problems arise and prolong fixing the problem. I wish people would just understand that you cant set a time on fixing two major leaks in different areas. I live a two blocks from where the major break was and had water not the best pressure but water.

Posted by: greenmom Location: augusta on Sep 9, 2008 at 10:52 AM
I am not quite sure what to think other than the obvious... it WAS inconvenient to go without usable water we are so lucky enough to have on a daily basis. There is no need to overreact considering it was 2 (i admit FRUSTRATING)days of our lives. Many thousands of people in this world experience that their whole lives. But what I would like to point out is that some of the city DID still have water pressure, albeit very low at times. I don't neccesarily think the city was trying to cover up anything because some citizens did have some water. I was able to do one load of laundry and one load in my dishwasher and fill 2 large kettles to boil throughout the day sunday and monday. And at 3p.m. Monday Walmart had a stack of cases of water. Take a deep breath everyone and realize how lucky we all are! :)

Posted by: seriously people Location: Augusta on Sep 9, 2008 at 12:13 AM
I think we have all gotten way off track here. Tiphanie you are taking this issue way too personal. Nobody blamed a city employee for the water outage. The problem here is the fact that the citizens of Augusta were not properly informed about the entire issue. It was as if our city was lying to the media by saying that we had low water pressure. When in actuality we had NO WATER for two days. We were also not given a realistic timeframe as to when the problem would be resolved. I think you will find most citizens are grateful for the people who worked hard to fix the problem. What upset me the most is the fact that it seemed like the City was trying to cover up a VERY OBVIOUS problem that affected the entire town.

Posted by: Tiphanie Location: Augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 10:03 PM
AMEN Blah and citizen AMEN

Posted by: Tiphanie Location: Augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 09:40 PM
And I found water just fine in town yesterday afternoon in fact it was around 5 pm and Dillons had quite a stock left. How long did you know your pressure was down?? You should have had plenty of time to get it??

Posted by: Blah! on Sep 8, 2008 at 09:40 PM
You know Augusta isn't the only town who has run out of water or be put on a boil order....you see it all the time in the news...even large towns (Wichita) has to tell their residence to cut down on water...you just cant make some people happy. :(

Posted by: Tiphanie Location: Augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 09:38 PM
The utility bills you pay go to their wages but did you also know that your utility bill pays for the supplies to fix leaks and break in the lines. And no i am not suggestin that city workers are free after 8 hrs. I am suggestin that maybe they should only work 8 hrs a day when things like this happen. And then people who are ungrateful for their work may understand that things like this take time to fix. I do agree that a little more notification would have been nice. But that is like trying to warn people of earthquakes. It just aint gonna happen. Nature is unpredictable. But a few days with out water is better than a month without a home. I have a friend who is now homeless cause of hurricanes. I would rather have no water for a few days than no home. And city workers pay taxes too. If we werent so worried about state street maybe the city would have more money to replace shoty water lines ever think about that???

Posted by: citizen Location: augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 09:36 PM
I know I was smart enough to figure things out when we had no water and that comes from a mother of three with a newborn baby to attend to and bottles to wash and steralize...you say you couldn't find water anywhere fine...pack up the kids, drive 12 minutes (exactly) and go to WalMart at Kellogg and Greenwich and get water...or better yet drive 8 minutes (exactly) and got to Dillons in Andover and get water. Geesh!!!! Some people have no clue in this world!!!!

Posted by: susie Location: augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 09:20 PM
Are you suggesting that city workers work for FREE after their 8 hour day is over? It's called OVERTIME and I'm sure that's what their paycheck will reflect. I don't get a paycheck from the city, that is why I pay taxes to the city workers for their work. Are you grateful that your mortgage company "allows" you to live in a home that you are still paying on? When you PAY for something, you expect service. Sometimes that service needs to be provided on a weekend. If you don't want to have to work weekends, don't take a utility job. Thank you for using the money I pay to do your job. My complaint is that THE CITY was not prepared to handle this emergency. If they couldn't get the water returned to us within 24 hours, they should have had emergency response personnel available to distribute water and ensure there was an adequate supply for citizens. If an emergency occurs on the weekend, I expect people to DO THEIR JOB. I'm sure holidays don't interefere with the cashing of paychecks.

Posted by: Tiphanie Location: Augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 08:10 PM
Maybe next time they should only work 8 hr days. thats all our taxes and utility bill pay. Then you would have lots to talk about until its fixed. I hope none of you have an unexpected problem happen with the holidays around the corner.

Posted by: susie Location: augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 07:57 PM
I don't see anyone blaming city workers for the line breaks. The city is responsible for the lack of water it provides to citizens. I called on Sunday morning when I had NO water and was told it would be working by 7pm. There were NO updates on the gazette site, no updates on the school website, no updates on channel 7 regarding schools. I had to come to KAKE to find out that school was cancelled. There was NO water to be purchased on Sunday afternoon, and NOWHERE in town to obtain it. We finally found a faucet at the city park and got a bucket to flush our toilet. Children need water - and the city did a pretty lousy job keeping residents informed and providing an essential resource to our community in an emergency. Workers are PAID to do their job, period. As "concerned" said, the city needs to re-evaluate their procedures regarding emergencies in our town. For citizens to go 2 days without water is ridiculous.

Posted by: Tiphanie Location: Augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 07:44 PM
The smelly teenagers are safe to take showers now and so are you. The schools are supplied with bottled water. And Ya it took two days. They can only pay so many to work on one leak at a time unless you would like it duct taped. and possibly cause more problems. We were out of water two days think of people who may be out of there homes forever. Thank god someone was able to fix it. For every one whining Maybe next time they shouldnt fix it. You people gripe about what you take for granted. Is this what its going to be like come winter time and power outages start happening from ice? And ya you should feel sorry for the men and women in the city department they do their best to get things going but have to stop to explain to impatient people who complain everytime something like this happens. God Bless You All.

Posted by: citizen Location: Augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 06:37 PM
It's amazing how everyone thinks they are the only ones in the world. Things happen and if you knew anything about how utilites work, nobody CAUSED the water line to break...it pretty much is a "natural disaster" in which nobody has control over and there is no way to monitor when they are going to break. Get over yourselves and thank God that you are temporarily OUT of water and not being FLOODED by a hurricane or somethig of major importance. I for one called the water department and the gentleman that answered was very informative and nice and you know he has been up for two days straight with NO SLEEP so that you can have water SOONER. And to even answer the phone when there are a million other things he probably is doing at the same time gets my applause. So in other words how dare any of you blame this on the workers...maybe we should all vote to have the city upgrade their water / sewer lines and have our taxes increased...but wait...you would complain about that too.

Posted by: concerned Location: Augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 05:46 PM
Hopefully, Augusta uses this problem as a chance to fix some of the problems in crisis management. I went to the city website to call the water department shortly after this all started...the number listed on the website had been disconnected! I then tried the Safety department (no answer) followed by the Water treatment plant. The guy answering basically said "A main broke...that's all I know". "Is it safe to drink?", I ask..."I think so" was the response. Would it be too hard for someone post this kind of stuff on a city website...you know...like most small-medium sized businesses are able to do?

Posted by: Tiphanie Location: Augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 05:30 PM
Just so all you worried people know all the men and women who worked on that line are well and finished. Toilets can flush and water must be boiled for one minute for the next two days atleast

Posted by: susie Location: augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 05:20 PM
Why would I feel sorry for the workers who worked to fix the problem? Isn't that THEIR JOB?? Excuse me, I thought my tax dollars and water bill each month pay their salaries. What is disgraceful is that it took TWO days for citizens of Augusta to have running water. I have a job also - and I had to go two days without a shower and without flushing the toilet in my home. Sorry, if they don't like their job they can get another one. Don't expect my sympathy when they have to WORK when something breaks.

Posted by: Irritated Location: Augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 04:47 PM
Whats disgraceful is if the kids have to go back to school on Tuesday they have to go back without being able to drink the water or being able to take shower. I don't know about the rest of the city but if i were to try to take a shower right now it would take a few hours i don't have enough water pressure to wash my hands and even then i would have to boil it before hand which would take an over sized pot and a huge stove burner. I don't think the kids should have to go back smelling eachothers stench all day its unsanitary and absolutely disgusting. Have you ever smelled an unbathed teenager?

Posted by: Tiphanie Location: Augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 04:24 PM
And what about the men and women who were away from there families through the days and nights they were fixing this leak?? Whats disgraceful is that you people dont understand how hard the water department of augusta worked to even remotely get close to solving the problem. And how many of you thought for one second if those workers needed anything such as lunch, coffee, drinks, etc. they would go with out and you would have to wait for water even longer. So think about the men and women who are now sleep deprived and soaked to the bone before you call them disgraces.

Posted by: augustamom Location: augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 04:09 PM
How can our kids be in school on Tuesday when they can't even drink the water? The toilets better be able to flush with hundreds of kids using them!!

Posted by: Susie Location: Augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 02:54 PM
Our water disappeared on Sun morn and we were told it would be restored by 7pm. There was NO bottled water left to purchase in town. We have 4 kids at home and after 2 days, all of my dishes are now dirty. I can't do laundry, I can't wash dishes, I can't flush the toilet. This is DISGRACEFUL. And how ironic that my city electric/water bill is due to be paid. I think I will just take that money and go get a hotel room.

Posted by: Frustrated Location: Augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 02:32 PM
The city didn't communicate with any of the media until I called KFDI, KWCH & KAKE last night - none of them knew anything about our water problems! What is the city hiding? Do they not want the casino in Mulvane to know they can't even provide their citizens with water?

Posted by: Mailbox1 Location: Andover on Sep 8, 2008 at 01:27 PM
I work for a company in Augusta and they sent us home since there was no water. Come on Augusta, you are costing me money!!!!!

Posted by: Joe Location: Augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 01:24 PM
I love how our city is feeding the media a load of crap. There is enough crap at my house to prove that we can't even flush the toilet. Come on Augusta lets get the REAL story.

Posted by: Howard Location: Augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 10:03 AM
Water? What water. They're telling everyone it's low pressure but from everyone I've talked to in town, no one has any. Try being in a house with four kids and see what happens. Were on 24 hours now with out any. And as far as a time estimate when its going to come back up being undetermined, give me a break. Come on Augusta, get your act together!

Posted by: martin Location: augusta on Sep 8, 2008 at 07:19 AM
I think the City at the least could issue an approximate time when the water will be back on, calling the Water Dept gives the standard answering maching message with no updates.

Posted by: Jason Location: Smileyburg on Sep 8, 2008 at 12:41 AM
Thank God for the things you do have!!

Posted by: Carmen Location: Augusta on Sep 7, 2008 at 11:23 PM
No kidding! We have no water at all!

Posted by: mellissa on Sep 7, 2008 at 09:43 PM
So when is water going to be back??? Most of us have no water at all to boil!

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