Water

"It's not the snow but the cold that could cause problems over the next few days. Plumbers are expecting lots of calls about frozen pipes. It happens most often at mobile homes. On a call Tuesday afternoon, Seth Harrington places a heater near the pipes and waits until they warm up. He says it is an easy fix, but letting them freeze can cause damage, depending on how long the pipes were frozen. "The longer they are frozen, the more the water will expand and that breaks the pipe," he said.

A group of concerned citizens take to Wichita's Little Arkansas River to clean it up. Many organizations including the Arkansas River Coalition and the Kansas Canoe and Kayak Association participated in the clean up. They say this river is particularly bad and being on the water helps get to trash they wouldn't normally be able to get from land. With shopping carts, tires, even couches in the water, they picked up as much as they could but say there is a lot more to be done. "It's part of being a good citizen and part of being a stuart of what God has given us. We don't deserve it if we can't take care of it," said Ark River Coalition member Marcia Pike.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has lifted the blue-green algae warning it had in place for Logan City Lake in Phillips County. KDHE says water samples from the lake have determined that the toxic level of blue-green algae has subsided, though experts still advice caution at the lake. “Our testing showed that there are no high areas of concern at the moment,” explained Tom Langer, Director for the Bureau of Environmental Health. “That said, if you see any green material floating in the water, you, and especially your pets, should avoid it.” For more information about blue green algae, visit   www.kdheks.gov/algae-illness/index.htm .

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is issued a public health advisory for Eight Mile Creek in Butler and Cowley counties.  Samples of the water have been submitted for testing. The City of Rose Hill's main wastewater pump station shut down Sunday, June 24, due to equipment failure. This caused a release of untreated wastewater to a tributary of Eight Mile Creek. The City of Rose Hill was able to restart the pump station and stop the release of wastewater. The health advisory extends through the portion of Eight Mile Creek from Southwest Butler Road north of Rose Hill in Butler County to where the creek enters the Walnut River in Cowley County.

By Kim Hynes (near SEDGWICK/SUMNER CO. LINE) A man dies nearly three days after his car landed in a sewage pond near Mulvane. The accident happened around 5:20 Thursday evening. 53-year old Joseph Edgerton died Saturday morning. Map - Location of Submersion The car was traveling south on the turnpike and for some reason veered off of the road. It went down an embankment and landed in a sewage pond at Wyldwood Cellars. A woman driving several feet behind the car saw a huge splash of water and pulled over.

"It's the joy of being pulled across the water," kiteboarder Wes Jenkins says.  "I can have a really bad day, and I go out and kite and I don't think about anything else. " There's a small group of Kansans that enjoys the thrill...the challenge...the danger. "It can be very dangerous if you get in the wrong situation," Jenkins says.  "You're fighting Mother Nature, and Mother Nature always wins. " Something went very wrong Saturday when a Wichita man kiteboarding at Cheney Lake ended up dead.  He was out enjoying the sport with several others including Wes Jenkins, who helped launch him launch for what turned out to be the last time.

The waters at Cheney Lake were calm Saturday...usually they're busy with activity on a hot summer day. Folks were handed a warning while checking in about something potentially dangerous growing in the water. The reason for the light number of people at the lake Saturday was due to potentially toxic levels of blue-green algae. It may sound harmless but the health department says otherwise...just coming in contact with it can make you sick. Park officials said they went from the boat launch to the beaches giving some straight forward advice.

El Dorado city leaders now say they're ready to begin the process of selling more water. The city currently uses about 9-million gallons of water a day and sells some to other communities. El Dorado leaders would like to sell more, but, they didn't know how much they could spare. That's why they hired an engineer group last August. The engineer group determined the City has the ability to sell up to an additional 30-million gallons of water a day. But city officials have a lot of issues to work out. "I think there's a lot of apprehension out there too and i think we need to do some educating, el dorado has been a 30 year old investment and people want to protect that investment," said the Director of Public Utilities for El Dorado Kurt Bookout.

There are a lot of "self-contained" mops on the market, but we like the claim of the H20 Mop.  It says it will turn tap water into steam in seconds.  So Jan and Phil from 104.5 The Fox volunteered to see "Does It Work"---on the KWCH studio floor. The mop needs to be put together, which wasn't too hard.   After that, you simply fill the tank with water and turn it on. In less than a minute the water is steaming, and the gang is ready to mop.  The two of them got rid of pop stains, hairspray residue and some spilled coffee in just moments.

Kimberly Joseph and her family like to watch TV in her basement. But without a dehumidifier, it'd be too uncomfortable. "The first thing we did was get the dehumidifier in so that way we would have a dry basement and it would be inviting to come down here," says Joseph.  Consumer Reports says dehumidifiers are your best choice when temperatures are cool and humidity is high.  It tested 17 dehumidifiers in three different sizes, including large-capacity. These are good for larger, very wet spaces-like a basement.