Bad algae found in Hillsboro's water / LJWorld.com

Archive for Tuesday, June 10, 2003

The Associated Press

June 10, 2003

HILLSBORO — The discovery of a potentially dangerous algae has prompted officials to stop pumping from the Marion Reservoir and start hauling water from nearby districts, authorities said Monday.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers discovered the fairly aggressive strain of the anabeana algae Thursday in the reservoir, said Morgan Marler, senior water treatment technician for the city of Hillsboro.

She said the algae, which occurs naturally in the proper conditions, could be harmful to humans.

Marler said the city began bringing water in Friday on trucks from McPherson and from the Kansas Rural Water Assn.

"We're taking extreme measures to make sure that the water is very safe," Marler said. "And we are very happy with the cooperation we have gotten from the customers."

She said the district's 7,000 customers in Hillsboro and nearby Peabody also had been asked to conserve water while it was being shipped in and while the water from the reservoir was being tested.

The water is coming into Hillsboro 24 hours a day, on three trucks at a time, each loaded with about 6,200 gallons of water, Marler said. She said it was unclear how long the city would continue hauling water.

"I'm not talking months and months," Marler said. "I'm talking a week or two."

She said the water shipments would be expensive, but that it "was worth it to ensure that our customers weren't inconvenienced."

Steve Garrett, Hillsboro city administrator, said a sample of the water was sent to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment in Topeka, which confirmed the presence of anabeana.

Marler said tests had since gone to labs in Florida and California. She was awaiting word from those labs on how to treat the reservoir water to make it safe for consumption again.

"There is no one around here who has dealt with this before," she said.

Hillsboro is about 50 miles north of Wichita.