UPDATE: Water back on in Ellis; Boil Water Advisory still in effect

UPDATE at 4:15 P.M. According to Ellis authorities (on the City of Ellis Facebook page), water service should be restored throughout the City. However, since the water was off for so long, KDHE has placed the Ellis in a boil advisory until further notice, which may be at least Thursday or Friday.

UPDATE: 12:40 P.M. A Boil Water Advisory has been issued for the city of Ellis by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

ellis water break 071916 james — Ellis is without water while crews fix a broken line Tuesday morning at 11th and Washington. (Photo by James Bell, Hays Post)

By JAMES BELL
Hays Post

A water line break during a routine valve replacement knocked out water service throughout the city of Ellis Tuesday morning, with repairs expected to take four to eight hours.

“We have a water main that is leaking that we can’t shut off, so we have to shut off the whole town,” said John Leiker, water plant operator.

Repairs are expected to be completed within eight hours, but the department is working to complete the repairs within four, Leiker said at around 10 a.m.

While repairs are ongoing, residents are asked to avoid East 11th St.

Ellis is without water while crews fix a broken line Tuesday morning at 11th and Washington. (Photo courtesy Cheryl Kinderknecht, Ellis Review) — (Photo courtesy Cheryl Kinderknecht, Ellis Review)

The city has been working to repair broken valves through the system, with 26 percent of valves reported as broken at the June 20 city council meeting.

It was a valve repair that caused the water line break.

Ellis Public Works crews preparing pipe to be installed. (Photo by Cheryl Kinderknecht, Ellis Review)

“We had a service company here putting in a valve and it’s all old stuff and he just poked through the bottom of his valve with a machine,” Leiker said.

“It was just an accident.”

The valve repairs are being completed by a Nebraska-based company, he said.