The City of Wichita has reported that a leak at the city’s water treatment plant has been repaired. The leak was first discovered on January 21, and a bypass pipe was installed on January 30. KMUW’s Sean Sandefur has more…
The source of the leak was a 66-inch pipe that takes in raw water from the Cheney Reservoir and the Equus water beds.
City officials say it was important to get it repaired before spring, when water is in higher demand.
In his State of the City Address in January, Mayor Carl Brewer said the leak was as an example of the city’s crumbling infrastructure, which includes an estimated $2.1 billion in needed repairs to city drainage systems.
Ben Nelson is with Wichita’s Public Works and Utilities Department.
“Certainly we’re doing what we can so that we can avoid the catastrophic failures like this pipeline could have been,” Nelson says. “But, also understanding that some of our other assets are deteriorating. We’re trying to make sure we invest our money wisely.”
Nelson says the projected cost of this most recent leak was $2 million, and that actual costs should come in below that number.
