Wilsey ? A tiny northeast Kansas community that can trace its origins back 120 years will get a public water system for the first time, which officials hope will give the town a much-needed boost.

Wilsey, a Morris County town with a population of 191, is primarily a bedroom community, with residents who commute to Fort Riley, Manhattan and Emporia. Their water came mostly from private wells, but the quality has been going down, leading officials to turn to a public water supply. The new system is expected to be ready in October.

“It should have been done 50 years ago when they put the sewer in,” said Welby Mitchell, a member of the City Council. “With a few grants, we finally got it through. Now, it’s just a matter of getting it done.”

Leah Hanson, who moved to Wilsey from Colorado recently, said many of the private wells had begun testing high in nitrates.

“We could do dishes and laundry, but we couldn’t drink the water,” she said. “We bought water from Culligan machines in Council Grove or Herington. It was just something you became accustomed to.”

The community located about 12 miles west of Council Grove used to have a number of businesses.

“It’s gone from a thriving community to none,” said C. K. Hutchinson, who graduated from Wilsey High School in 1952.

“When I went to high school there were two grocery stores, two restaurants, a hardware store and lumber yard, grain elevator and service station,” he said. “There was a mechanics shop, theater, a bandstand downtown where on summer nights a community band played – that’s all gone.”

The new water system is giving hope that better times could be ahead.