Rossville under a boil water advisory until the public waters are safe

ROSSVILLE, Kan. (WIBW) - The City of Rossville has been issued a boil water advisory until further notice.

The advisory was issued by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Thursday, June 1, and the advisory will remain in effect until the conditions and bacterial levels of the public water supply system are resolved.

KDHE officials said the problem stemmed from a loss of pressure in the system. Officials say that a failure to maintain adequate pressure may result in a loss of chlorine residuals and bacterial contamination.

KDHE has asked residents in the Rossville area to take the following precautions:

• 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.

Rossville officials told 13 NEWS the loss in pressure was caused by a water main break near Casey’s on Highway 24. Officials also said the water main break was repaired by 10:30 a.m. on Thursday. However, the boil water order will remain in effect until testing deems the water safe and KDHE rescinds the advisory.

If any restaurants and other food establishments have questions about how the boil water advisory will impact their business, call the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s food safety and lodging program at 785-564-6767 or email them at kda.fsl@ks.gov.

For any consumer questions, call KDHE at 785-296-5514 or the water system at 785-584-6155. More consumer information can be found on KDHE’s PWS Consumer information webpage.

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