09/16/2026
⚠️ Boil Water Advisory Update - Afternoon of September 16 ⚠️
After issuing a water boil advisory this morning, September 16, the City of Wichita is still investigating the cause of the power failures that lead to the necessity of calling a boil advisory for Wichita Water customers.
• A failure at roughly 5 a.m. in the backup power system for the High Service Pump Station and current treatment plant while on generators overnight caused the system to lose power, resulting in a loss of pressure in the system for roughly 45 minutes.
• Staff had switched to backup generators earlier in the evening following a power blip in the Evergy system due to the storm. This was routine protocol to safeguard the system from power loss and damage from the storm.
• A malfunction within the backup power system resulted in power loss from two generators and prevented two additional generators from starting.
• Staff was immediately aware of the issues and worked to manually restore power and reset the pumps.
• Staff was able to manually restore power using utility energy and reset the pumps before checking system pressure.
• Once staff became aware of a potential loss of pressure, they began following protocol to notify leadership and partner agencies.
• By 7:30 a.m. water pressure was restored as normal.
Water testing is complete and tests have been sent to the lab. The City expects to receive results of the tests the afternoon of Thursday, September 17.
At that time, next steps will be considered. Only KDHE can issue the rescind order following testing at a certified laboratory. If no contamination is found, the boil advisory could be lifted by KDHE. If contamination is found, the boil order could be extended another 24 hours for the entire system, or it could be isolated to any parts of the City that could be impacted.
Updates and more information may be found at wichita.gov/alert.
