Water

As much as Cindy Opat loves her garden, she hates her hose. "Well this hose, it's very long, as it needs to be to reach where I want to water. But I don't have any place to hang it up. So, it looks rather unsightly in our lovely garden. It also kinks very easily,” Cindy said. That's why she wanted us to test the XHOSE. It's supposed to expand to three times its size and never kink. We got it online for $19.95, plus shipping and handling. Click to See XHOSE Test Photos So, will the light weight, roughly nine-foot-long, blue garden hose pass our practical test?

The most important factor in the survival of a new plant is watering properly. Unfortunately there is no one answer as to how much to water. In general it is better to water heavier and less frequently than frequent short watering's. The soil should be kept moist but not soggy. More new plants die from too much water than not enough water. This happens in heavy clay soils or in over irrigated fescue lawns. Areas that are too wet will actually suffocates the roots from lack of oxygen.

Want to increase your gas mileage?  We tested a product that had us reaching for distilled water, baking soda---and our wallet. In a nutshell, the Water 4 Gas system is a collection of glass jars filled with the water and soda that you install under the hood of your car.  The jars also have a wire inside that is supposed to ignite a chemical reaction creating hydrogen gas.  A tube carries that hydrogen into your air intake line and on into...

A large water main break leaves residents of Conway Springs and Iola with no water. Conway Springs Fire Chief Mike Erker said the break is being worked on at this time and the goal is to have it repaired by Friday morning.

A water main break in south Wichita forced police to close a busy intersection Wednesday night. The break happened around seven o'clock at 47th and Hydraulic. The break sent water into the air. We’re told the gusher has been capped and traffic is again moving normally through the area. The cause of the break is unknown.

The U.S. Supreme Court Monday granted Kansas permission to proceed with litigation against Nebraska for alleged overuse of water in the Republican River basin. This reopens the 1998 litigation that Kansas brought against Nebraska and Colorado based on the Republican River Compact that the three states signed in 1943. The states reached a negotiated settlement of the 1998 litigation, and the Supreme Court in 2003 entered a decree approving the terms of the settlement. Kansas now alleges Nebraska violated both the settlement decree and the compact by overusing more than 78,000 acre-feet of water during a two-year period from 2005 to 2006.

An arbitrator has sided with the State of Kansas in a pair of disputes over the usage of water from the Republican River.  The decision is a step in the ongoing administration of the Republican River by Kansas, Colorado, and Nebraska. The states had entered arbitration on a pair of issues.  Nebraska is seeking changes in the compact accounting to provide water credits if monetary payments are made for noncompliance with the compact terms.  Kansas objected that the proposal was contrary to the compact and would encourage future compact violations and deprive Kansas water users of the water due to them under the compact approved by the Supreme Court.

     It's not what Maroun Faissal expected to do this weekend.      But survival training exercises are part of his job.      "We're don't run calls all twenty-four hours so in our down time we practice," says Maroun Faissal.      And Station 34 has had a lot of down time this Forth of July.      "It's not going to be near as busy as it has been," says David Matthew.      Typically, emergency calls on Independence Day keep crews out all day.      Sunday, boots and trucks are ready with no where to go.      Sedgwick County Fire Departments were expecting a lot of calls this weekend with new fireworks laws and the anticipation of warmer weather but once they saw the forecast any additional crews they were going to bring in were sent home.

The turfgrass specialist has just posted several short “how-to” videos on the Web at http://www.ksuturf.org/blog/2011/07/turf-and-landscape-irrigation-videos/ . They demonstrate such tricks of the trade as: * Calculating when a lawn actually needs water, using local rain and evapotranspiration data reported daily by such services as the Kansas Weather Data Library (http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/wdl/).   * Measuring how deeply water has soaked in. * Checking whether a sprinkler or irrigation system is distributing water evenly to all parts of the lawn.

As temperatures start heating up, many are getting ready to hit the water. But boaters need to be aware of what might be lurking under. Because the water levels are so low, some places which use to be deep enough to boat over may now leave boaters stuck in the mud.  Barry Dorion, owner of Barry's Westside Marine, told KWCH 12 Eyewitness News last year boaters racked up thousands of dollars in damages caused by the lower water levels. "I expect it to be a lot worse this year," said Dorion.

A typical household uses approximately 260 gallons of water every day. Reduce this amount and save money by using water more efficiently. Here are some tips to conserve water resources at home. KITCHEN AND LAUNDRY Use automatic dishwashers only for full loads. Every time a dishwasher is operated, about 17 gallons of water are used. Make each gallon count. When washing dishes by hand, do not leave the water running for rinsing. If two sinks are used, fill one with soapy water and one with rinse water.

To most Kansans, fresh, clean water "goes with the territory. " They turn on the tap and there it is, good water. We assume water for drinking, cooking, personal hygiene, lawns, gardens, livestock, industry, etc. will last forever. Not true. Good, clean water is fast becoming a scarce commodity. Seas and oceans contain 97 percent of the water on earth. Snow, glaciers, and polar ice account for 2.25 percent. Rivers, lakes, and groundwater represent only .6 percent of the total water that produces the world's food supply.

People dropped off loads of medicine across Sedgwick County Saturday, as part of the Drug Take Back initiative. "I lost my husband back two years ago and I had all of his medicine that I needed to dispose of. So I brought it out," said Judy Stevens. Drug Enforcement Administration officials say it can be dangerous to the community water supply if medicines are not disposed of correctly. "We definitely don't want people throwing that stuff away or flushing down the toilet," said Sedgwick County Sheriff Deputy Christy Fischer.

Botanica staff gardener Laura Pham is used to lugging around a hefty hose.  We asked her to test the Pocket Hose, a product aimed to make gardening easier. It's smaller and light-weight, but can expand up to 50 feet. We found it at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for $19.99.       The hose was 25 feet long, without water flowing through it.  But when Laura turned the water on, it expanded to more than 50 feet. Laura watered with just the hose and no attachments. "It has a pretty good reach, with all the pressure," Laura said.

Despite recent rain, the long-term drought leads the city of Abilene to declare a water emergency. The emergency follows 287 days with the city under a water warning. In a press release, Abilene city manager David Dillner says, while recent rain and snow has been good for ground level conditions, it will not affect the public water supply for several months. Under the water emergency, the city of Abilene will implement several regulations to help reduce non-essential water use. The city says the plan includes three levels.

A man is recovering from minor injuries after falling into a water tower. It happened in Solomon around 1 p.m. Tuesday while the man was cleaning the inside of the tank. The Salina Journal reports the man had to be rescued after falling about 30 feet to the bottom of the water tower. A firefighter was sent down into the tank to help get the man out. There was no water in the tower at the time of the accident.  The man was taken to a Salina-area hospital for evaluation.

Wichita Police and the Exploited & Missing Child Unit are investigating after a five-year-old girl suffers second-degree burns. The girl was in the care of a family member in Southwest Wichita on Saturday. Police say he was holding a pot of boiling water as he was scolding her for taking food into the living room. Police say he then poured the boiling water on the girl, causing burns to her back, arms and face. The girl's father showed up at the home later and discovered the injuries.

The Salina City Commission took steps to apply water restrictions to private well owners when the city is in a warning or emergency. The city has two major sources of water, the Smoky Hill River and groundwater.The wells use only groundwater. Director of Utiltites Martha Tasker says that limiting the wells intake could help the city in these dry conditions. "That's really our goal, to extend that groundwater supply as long as possible and, in the event, then the Smoky Hill River has a chance to be replenished," Tasker said.

Every drop counts, especially in a drought. City leaders are marking "fix-a-leak week" hoping to raise awareness for wasted water. The Environmental Protection Agency reports more than 1,000,000,000 gallons of water leaks from U.S. homes each year. The city of Wichita is handing out free tablets to check for leaky toilets. Homeowners are encouraged to drop the tablet in the back tank, wait about 10 to 15 minutes, then open the bowl and look for dye. ¿¿ Dripping faucets also add up. Finding leaks and fixing them could save up to 10-percent on monthly water bills.