5 days ago
Leawood public health advisory lifted after wastewater overflow
A public health advisory for Leawood residents and businesses was lifted Friday after an overflow during routine maintenance Thursday at the Tomahawk Wastewater Treatment Facility led to contamination of nearby Indian Creek, according to the Johnson County Department of Health.
While the overflow did not impact public water sources, residents in the area were advised to keep themselves and their pets from making contact with the water.
The advisory came 'out of an abudance of caution' due to concerns about exposure to the bacteria E. coli.
According to Johnson County Wastewater Community Relations Manager Melissa Reeves, the overflow was the result of increased velocity in the facility's primary sludge pumps.
'As part of regular maintenance, operators were flushing the gravity thickener feed by running the primary sludge pumps at 100% speed to increase velocity in the pipe,' she said in an email. 'The pumps were inadvertently left on at that speed and not returned to the regular pump speed (30%). The increased flow overloaded the gravity thickener to the point that it overflowed.'
Reeves said rain and high water levels minimized the impact of the overflow and its contamination of the water. She said test results received Friday morning showed the contamination levels of the creek 'remained within normal range.'
Johnson County Wastewater is reviewing how they can prevent a similar operational failure from happening in the future.
'We are reviewing opportunities for additional automation support that can enhance our maintenance processes to minimize the risk of a future operational failure,' she said.
