Kansas health officials have issued a boil water advisory for a portion of Towanda after a water main break. The area affected by the advisory is west of 6th Street, including the high school.
The water main break was reported around noon in the area of Rainbow Court. Two schools in the Circle School District dismissed classes at 12:15 because of the break. That affected students at Circle Towanda Elementary and Circle High School. CHS practices were canceled and the track meet scheduled for Thursday has been moved to Monday.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is urging people in the affected 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.
The boil advisory will be in effect until testing can determine if there has been any bacterial contamination.
