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Water main break leaves Emporia nearly without water

County urges Emporia residents to boil water
Posted at 9:04 AM, Jul 20, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-21 10:30:33-04

From the get-go, maintenance worker Todd Smith knew this wasn’t an ordinary main break overnight Thursday. 

He got the call just before 2 a.m. when LeAnna Reilly noticed water seeping out of the ground at W. 15th Ave and Prairie Street. 

“I have wondered if I had left a hose on or something,” Reilly said.

It took crews two hours to get the water under control.

“About 15 years ago, this 20 blew up, but they were able to control it a bit better and it wasn't quite as bad,” Smith said.

This time it required shutting off the water supply, impacting Emporia’s 25,000 residents. 

“It can be so easy to be frustrated that your water is off and everything but realize that these guys are out here busting it,” Reilly said.

Around mid-morning, a preliminary cause had been determined.  

“They pushed the pressure a little bit during this extreme heat and that little bit of pressure, everything likes to break,” Smith told 41 Action News. 

And as temperatures reached the triple digits, bottled water became the hot commodity.

Andre Oulei, an Emporia resident, traveled 20 miles north to a Lebo, Kansas gas station for five packs of bottled water.

“Well you got to have some water, so I figured I'd try and I'll stop in any small town where I can get some water,” Oulei said. 

Other folks lined up at the Lyon County fairgrounds to receive free bottled water from the Salvation Army and Westar Energy. 

By mid-afternoon water began to flow through some faucets. But the county urges residents to boil their water. 

As to when they'll lift the boil advisory, that depends on the results from water tests.

An official said on Thursday, best case scenario, the advisory gets lifted as early as Saturday. 

 

UPDATE: As of 2 a.m. Friday morning, Public Works Director Frank Abart reported the water system has been restored to normal pressure. 

Officials said water samples are being collected for testing by the state department of health and environment. 

Abart said the boil order will continue until lifted by the KDHE.