This week, KC Water participated in the national advocacy and educational event, Imagine a Day Without Water. Across the country, organizations, elected officials, corporations, and environmental advocates worked together to educate people about how water is essential, the challenges facing water and wastewater systems, and the need for investment. Many people take water service for granted. Clean, safe, reliable, and affordable water comes out of the tap and flows down the drain without a second thought. But, the massive infrastructure, much of it underground, which brings water to homes and businesses, takes it away, and treats it, is aging.
Kansas City’s Water Treatment Plant is able to produce up to 240 million gallons of water each day. To ensure that every drop is delivered to your tap safe and healthy, an average of 60 samples per day are tested, taken from throughout Kansas City, for over 300 contaminants. There are, operated and maintained, almost 2,800 miles of mains in Kansas City. Lined up end-to-end, these pipes would stretch from New York, NY to Los Angeles. Kansas City’s original water and sewer infrastructure was laid in 1874, and some of this pipe is still in use today. The strategy is to continue reinvesting in Kansas City’s infrastructure by strategically replacing critical systems each year. Each time a pipe is installed it is estimated to last 100 years, or more.
Kansas City residents, next month the city will begin a sewer main replacement and realignment that will likely conclude in the summer of next year. Existing water mains have experienced numerous breaks, resulting in service interruptions. The replacement will include State Line Rd to Holmes Rd & 86th Terr. to 132nd Terr. Normal travel routes may be disrupted during this time. Your patience is appreciated.
