By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Residents appalled by brown and black water sought help Monday from county commissioners, but the path forward seems perhaps as cloudy as the water emerging from their taps.

Nathan Brunner said Rural Water District No. 1’s problems had been lasting longer, usually one to two days of dirty, brown or black water.

“This last event,” he said, however, “has lasted six to nine days depending on where you live within the water district.”

The water district told residents it was flushing the lines but didn’t give a timeline, Brunner told commissioners.

“We are told this water is just a little high on iron, and the dirty look is from manganese, but it’s OK to drink,” Brunner said. “Many have reached out to Kansas Department of Health and Environment, who advised they have taken many complaints. We were also told that the samples show our water to be normal, but they didn’t share the testing dates.”

The problems have cost customers hundreds of dollars, Brunner said. People have lost clothing, appliances, and water filters, he contended.

Tampa resident Kristina Kraemer set a bottle of dark brownish water on a table before she spoke to commissioners.

“If you’re planning to turn us away again without action, then I’d like to see one of you take this bottle of our tap water and drink the whole thing,” Kraemer said.

She didn’t get her wish, but after the meeting adjourned, commissioner Mike Beneke removed the bottle’s cap and took a swig.

He said the taste didn’t seem bad.

“This isn’t just a nuisance,” Kraemer said. “It’s summer in Kansas, and we are dealing with dangerously high temperatures. My husband is a farmer, working 12-hour days in this heat for harvest, and he can’t even fill up his water jug and home to take to the field. My kids are on summer break and they don’t have access to clean drinking water in their own home, so I have to continuously buy bottled water.”

Elmer Ronnebaum, general manager of Kansas Rural Water Association, said that the water was “not useable,” and that assistance could be given to the water district for immediate needs and to repair infrastructure.

He said the association had been attempting to help the district but the district hadn’t taken action.

County commissioner Kent Becker told Kraemer that there is little the county could do to force the district to do anything.

He labeled it a for-profit, private corporation.

Becker was incorrect.

Ronnebaum said rural water districts were quasi-municipal corporations.

“They are a public agency,” he said.

Ronnebaum said the association suggested that the district hire a groundwater geologist to help with its water.

The water’s iron level is much higher than it should be, he said.

“They need to thoroughly flush the system in a systematic way,” he said. “If they would just let us help them, we would do it.”

In 1991, the state association removed a long, black, snake-like sludge of iron from 12½ miles of pipe in the district. Although removing the sludge increased the amount of water flowing, the district still has not done anything more to remove sludge since, Ronnebaum said.

County Counsel Brad Jantz said the obvious thing was to talk to the water district board. If that didn’t help, other avenues could be pursued, he said.

Kraemer asked whether that meant hiring a lawyer to go after the water district.

Jantz said that was one possibility, but there are others.

“We can make inquiries,” Jantz said. “This board (of county commissioners) still is responsible for the health and safety of its constituents. It will still fall to (the water district) board.”