by Jared Thompson, originally posted on May 28. 2016

NETAWAKA, Kan. (KSNT) — Netawaka, Kansas is on a boil water advisory. The advisory was started May 19th and is still ongoing.

Water main breaks have been a huge issue here in Netawaka, Ks. and the city has finally done something to fix it. But the result is a mess in front of homes.

The city has water main breaks constantly and boil water advisories are nothing new to the city. What makes this advisory different is that it will last up to three months.

“We’re having too many breaks and too much water loss that we don’t know where it’s going,” Bruce Meininger, Mayor of Netawaka said. The older pipelines were real old and brittle and it was just time for an upgrade.”

When the city has a water main break the entire city’s water gets shut off due to only one water valve. The purpose of this project is to reduce that issue and place several water valves around the town.

“Well, you lose your pressure and things come loose inside the pipeline. Your chlorination goes down at that point. It’s just hard to keep things like they’re supposed to be.”

Luckily, Red Cross has decided to help out. Locals can go to their gym where the gym is able to keep cases of water in their storage room to hand out.

People in Netawaka seem to be pretty understanding of the situation.

“It’s a little tough, but it’s not bad, Arnold Robertson, resident, said. It would be a lot worse if we didn’t have water.”

“I’m not disappointed about them doing the pipes,” Herschel Keithline, resident, said. “I would have rather they did it in August or July when it’s not so wet.”

Locals say it’s not as bad as people think. They say they boil water when they cook and the only difference is buying bottled water.