By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
It's good to stay hydrated as Kansas temperatures reach their peak. And the water in Great Bend is good for that. The city recently issued its Consumer Confidence Report for 2022, and things are going swimmingly.
"We really do have good water, and really clean water," said Reuben Martin, Great Bend's utilities superintendent. "There's really nothing we can improve on, much of any of it would make the water better. Here we don't treat the water, we just pump it up out of the ground, chlorinate it, and send it to the customers."
Great Bend tests its water 15 times per month in accordance to the Revised Total Coliform Rule for microbiological contaminants. Taking samples from meter boxes eliminates contaminants that may be specific to the inside of each home.
"We go to addresses in different zones, and we go to the meter box out there in front or behind the house," Martin said. "We take the sample out of there and send it in. That shows the quality in our system."
Regulated contaminants like arsenic, selenium and chromium fell well-below maximum-allowed levels, and nitrates, which typically come from fertilizer, came in just below the maximum-allowed levels. Calcium carbonate levels in the water did exceed recommended levels for water hardness.
But all in all, Martin is pleased with the results and said the city will stay its course on provided good drinking water for its residents.
"We don't have any major changes," he said. "It's pretty much the same every year. They haven't come to us and said anything is posing an issue by rising in levels or anything."