Officials warn Geary Co. residents to continue to boil water as services restored in part

JUNCTION CITY, Kan. (WIBW) - Geary County officials are warning residents to continue to boil their water before consumption as parts of the county get services restored.

While water services have been restored to parts of Geary County, Geary County Emergency Management says residents should continue to boil their water under the continued boil water advisory.

The county’s emergency management provided an update on Facebook Saturday morning.

They said around 1 a.m. crews got some water flowing into the Junction City Water Treatment distribution system.

Geary Co. Emergency Management asks residents to remain patient as it may take some time for water services to be fully restored. Crews will continue to work on it for much of Saturday.

Geary County Community Hospital has started to field calls about residents who have consumed water from taps without following proper boil procedures.

Officials said if water is provided by the public supply system, the following precautions should be taken:

• Boil water vigorously for 1 minute before use, however, boiling it longer than 3 minutes could adversely affect quality and taste.
• Use only bottled or boiled water for drinking, diluting fruit juices and all other food preparation.
• If non-potable water is used for handwashing, bare-hand contact with any food should not be done.
• Dispose of ice cubes and do not use ice from any automatic icemaker. Remake cubes with water that has been boiled or purchase bagged ice from an area not under the boil water advisory. Flush the icemaker water line after the advisory has been lifted.
• Disinfect dishes and other food contact surfaces by immersing them for at least 1 minute in clean tap water that contains 1 teaspoon of unscented household bleach per gallon of water.
• Stop using fountain soda machines connected to a contaminated public water supply.

Once the advisory has been lifted, Emergency Management said residents will need to take additional steps before they resume normal consumption of water.

Storms on December 15th knocked out power to the Junction City Water Treatment facility. Officials said when power was restored, an employee left a valve open and that caused more than 600,000 gallons of water to fill the basement.

Geary County remains under a boil water advisory as health officials work to determine if the water will be safe to drink.

Water and shelter are available for residents that need them. More details can be found here.

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