Welcome to the
City of
Garnett, Kansas
News
Crystal Lake Opens After Clearance By KDHE
On July 20th the Garnett Water Treatment Plant began a temporary procedure to change its disinfection process from chloramines (chlorine and ammonia) to free chlorine (no ammonia added) for a few weeks in order to better disinfect deadend lines and lines that see very little water usage. That process, including flushing of lines, has now been completed. On Monday, August 17th the Water Treatment Plant will start moving from the free chlorine back to chloramines treatment again. You may or may not notice a slight change in taste and odor.
Thank you for
your patience and consideration while we go through this process to insure the
safety of your drinking water.
Crystal Lake (South Lake) Closed to People and Pets
Until Further Notice
UPDATE: On Thursday, August 13th, representatives from the Kansas Department of Health informed City Manager Joyce Martin that the South Lake must remain closed to the public until further notice. Samples taken by health officials verify that blue-green algae is in the lake therefore no public access will be allowed. Mrs. Martin commented: “We have done our best to close off the lake and make the public aware of this problem. However, people continue to knock down or go around the barricades trying to gain access to the water. We want people to be aware that this algae can be very dangerous, especially to pets and small children.” State officials will return to Garnett on August 24th to take additional samples.
Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, can produce toxins in recreational waters and has been implicated to human and animal illness in Kansas. KDHE officials have been notified and will be in Garnett on Monday to inspect and sample the water to verify if blue-green algae is present.
A statement has been issued by City Manager Joyce Martin: "Until we know for sure, we are closing the South Lake for recreational use. Picnicking and camping will be permitted within Veterans Memorial Park, but we ask that people and their pets avoid direct contact with the lake at this time. The treated water we provide our residential and commercial customers is piped directly to our water treatment plant from Cedar Valley Reservoir via the Cedar Creek pump station. No water from the South Lake is entering the treated water process. Please be assured the water coming out of your faucet is safe. If and when it is determined that blue-green algae is present in Crystal Lake it will not have any effect on the treated water we supply through our water distribution system. When it is determined that the South Lake is free of blue-green algae the closure will be rescinded."
Lake Garnett and Cedar Valley Reservoir are open to the public for normal recreational use. This closure is isolated to the South Lake only.
Updated information regarding this matter will be released to the media and provided on the City of Garnett website, www.garnettks.net, as it becomes available.
Garnett area citizens are invited to participate in the Anderson County Recycling Program. A recycling trailer is staged in the Country Mart parking lot on the second Tuesday of each month, courtesy of the Anderson County Landfill/Recycling Center. Items to be dropped into the designated bins:
- #1-#7 plastic bottles, preferably washed out;
- Glass bottles and glass containers, preferably washed out;
- Cardboard boxes, must be flattened;
- Cans, must be crushed. No plastic bags or household trash.
Make it a habit to take your recyclables to this drop off point the second Tuesday of each month when visiting our highway business district!
Not only can you now find the City Commission's agenda and minutes on this website, but following their approval each month, the advisory board minutes will be available on this site as well. Please feel free to get to know what's happening in your city!
You can now pay your utility bill, sign up for recreation programs and even pay court fines through this website. On the lefthand side of this screen, please click on "ONLINE PAYMENT" for details.
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