Water Supply

Residents in Protection should plan to store a few extra bottles of water in the fridge or have a tall glass of water for breakfast Tuesday. The city is shutting down the town's entire water system at eight o'clock in the morning so crews can replace some valves.  They went bad when the water froze. The faucets should be flowing again by two o'clock in the afternoon.

Kids play in it.  People drink it.  Experts say it prevents cavities.  Fluoridated water runs through the pipes in communities across the country.  Esther McClure says she's been drinking it most of her life. "It helps your teeth," McClure says. But a group in Salina wants the city to stop adding fluoride to the water. "It's a neurotoxin," says John Boesen of the group called, Salina Cares about Pure Water.  "It's corrosive acid and it's not something that should be put in the water.

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.

Investigators blame a bad electrical wire arrangement for a strip mall fire in West Wichita. Crews were called to the business at 21st and Waco shortly before 6:00 pm. They found a fire that had started near the rear of the fourplex, and spread to the front. Rush hour traffic in the area had to be blocked to protect firefighters and their water supply. After making sure no one was inside, crews put the fire out. No one was hurt, but all four businesses in the building suffered damage.

Despite the current drought, Wichita's water supply is sufficient and officials see no reasons for restrictions at this point. Joe Pajor with Wichita Public Works says Wichita draws about 60 percent of its water from Cheney Lake and the other 40 percent from wells. Pajor says although Cheney is down, the conservation pool is about 78 percent full.  Check current levels at Cheney Lake here Pajor says it would have to be dry all winter and into next summer before Wichita would likely have to discuss water restrictions.

You may have seen the signs or read on Twitter, there is poison in the tap water.  That's the message a group of Wichita activists are trying  to get out.  "We're trying to shock people into the reality of what's going on. We want to get them concerned enough to research on their own and see what's going on. " said Wichita activist James Gragg.  Gragg's group is worried fluoride in drinking water is poisoning people.  "Our concern about fluoride being added to the water supply, not just in Wichita but anywhere in the country has severe adverse effects on people's health," Gragg said.

The battle to add fluoride to Wichita's water may boil over again as the national Coalition in Defense of Oral Health launched a new effort this week to add the chemical to water in cities across the nation. Wichita is one of the largest cities that doesn't add fluoride to the water supply. Moves to add the chemical has been repeatedly rebuffed in the past. The dental coalition says that because most communities add fluoride, tooth loss has dropped in the past 50 years. “The portion of people aged 65 plus losing all of their teeth have dropped by 21% since the early 1960's,” the group says on their website.

The City of Wichita wants your input on dealing with drought conditions in the region. The city scheduled six public meetings for mid-April. Officials say the Wichita region is in its third year of a prolonged drought, and there's no indication of when it will let up. The city says the hot, dry weather since 2011 has depleted the City's water supply. Cheney Reservoir, which supplies Wichita with about 60% of its supply, is expected to cease yielding drinking water in August 2015 - if weather conditions and water usage do not change.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says as many as 17 people have now died after eating contaminated cantaloupe. The cantaloupe has been traced back to Jensen Farms in Holly, Colorado. An Eyewitness News viewer has questions about the outbreak. How did the listeria get there? The Food and Drug Administration hasn't figured it out yet. It's looking at the farm's water supply and the possibility that animals carrying the bacteria wondered onto the crop.

The communities of Dodge City and Salina want residents to conserve water. The city of Salina issued a "water watch" Friday. The city says the current dry and hot weather, combined with city and rural irrigation, has increased overall water use. Officials say that's led to a reduction in available water from the Smoky Hill River. Salina officials say the capacity of public wells is stable, and the water table is seven feet above 2006 levels. The city says it must utilize both well and river sources to meet peak supply requirements.

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.

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.

The City of Wichita wants your input on dealing with drought conditions in the region. The city scheduled six public meetings for mid-April. Officials say the Wichita region is in its third year of a prolonged drought, and there's no indication of when it will let up. The city says the hot, dry weather since 2011 has depleted the City's water supply. Cheney Reservoir, which supplies Wichita with about 60% of its supply, is expected to cease yielding drinking water in August 2015 - if weather conditions and water usage do not change.

It's a question many viewers have shared with us. How does the process of adding fluoride to water work? We traveled to Topeka, which treats 30 million gallons of water a day. The capital has fluoridated its water for decades. "Is there a lot of controversy around it here in Topeka?" said Bruce Northrop who runs the Topeka Water Plant. "In the 40 years I've been doing it, there has been very little controversy about adding fluoride to the drinking water. " Topeka dentist Dr. Amy Thompson says the same thing.

Despite the current drought, Wichita's water supply is sufficient and officials see no reasons for restrictions at this point. Joe Pajor with Wichita Public Works says Wichita draws about 60 percent of its water from Cheney Lake and the other 40 percent from wells. Pajor says although Cheney is down, the conservation pool is about 78 percent full.  Check current levels at Cheney Lake here Pajor says it would have to be dry all winter and into next summer before Wichita would likely have to discuss water restrictions.

The communities of Dodge City and Salina want residents to conserve water. The city of Salina issued a "water watch" Friday. The city says the current dry and hot weather, combined with city and rural irrigation, has increased overall water use. Officials say that's led to a reduction in available water from the Smoky Hill River. Salina officials say the capacity of public wells is stable, and the water table is seven feet above 2006 levels. The city says it must utilize both well and river sources to meet peak supply requirements.

Kids play in it.  People drink it.  Experts say it prevents cavities.  Fluoridated water runs through the pipes in communities across the country.  Esther McClure says she's been drinking it most of her life. "It helps your teeth," McClure says. But a group in Salina wants the city to stop adding fluoride to the water. "It's a neurotoxin," says John Boesen of the group called, Salina Cares about Pure Water.  "It's corrosive acid and it's not something that should be put in the water.

The Buhler community finally has the results from a cancer investigation. After months of analyzing data, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment released its findings. Certain types of cancer in and around Buhler are not higher than average. For months now, the talk in the small community of Buhler around the tables at the Mustard Seed Coffee Shop has been about cancer. "Probably every day, every table was talking about once or twice," Blanca Kaufman of Mustard Seed Coffee Shop said.

The battle to add fluoride to Wichita's water may boil over again as the national Coalition in Defense of Oral Health launched a new effort this week to add the chemical to water in cities across the nation. Wichita is one of the largest cities that doesn't add fluoride to the water supply. Moves to add the chemical has been repeatedly rebuffed in the past. The dental coalition says that because most communities add fluoride, tooth loss has dropped in the past 50 years. “The portion of people aged 65 plus losing all of their teeth have dropped by 21% since the early 1960's,” the group says on their website.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says as many as 17 people have now died after eating contaminated cantaloupe. The cantaloupe has been traced back to Jensen Farms in Holly, Colorado. An Eyewitness News viewer has questions about the outbreak. How did the listeria get there? The Food and Drug Administration hasn't figured it out yet. It's looking at the farm's water supply and the possibility that animals carrying the bacteria wondered onto the crop.