City releases wastewater into Kansas River following pump failure; stream advisory issued

Post updated at 11:05 a.m. Thursday, June 1:

The city released wastewater into the Kansas River Wednesday morning after heavy rain led to a pump failure in a wastewater pump station near Bowersock Dam, according to a social media post from the city.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has issued a stream advisory for the Kansas River near Lawrence as a result, according to the post.

"Early this morning, we advised KDHE about the need to directly send wastewater into the Kansas River due to a pump failure after a hard night of rain," according to the post. "The pump failure resulted in wastewater that contains elevated bacteria levels being discharged into the Kansas River."

The city was able to repair the pump station and stop the discharging around 10:45 Wednesday morning, according to the post.

The post said people and pets should not enter that portion of the river, but that there are no impacts to the city's drinking water system as a result of the incident.

The city's post stated that they would work with KDHE for necessary testing and follow-up, and provide an update when KDHE rescinds the stream advisory.

Update: KDHE said in a tweet just before 10 a.m. Thursday that the stream advisory for the Kansas River had been rescinded.

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