Page 8 - Summer-2024-BPU Connection-WQR

Kansas City Board of Public Utilities

2024 Water Quality Report

The mission of the Water Division of the Kansas City Board of Public
Utilities (BPU) is to have available upon demand, to all of our customers, good
quality water and to provide that water in the most efficient manner possible.
For more than 100 years, BPU has provided this community with quality water.
We are proud to continue this mission and hope that you find this water report
useful and informative.
BPU is one of the top rated public water utilities in the country, and one of only For questions about BPU water quality, please call BPU’s Water Processing
a handful to receive the Partnership for Safe Water "15-Year Directors Award." Division at (913) 573-9272.
The Partnership for Safe Water is a voluntary program between BPU (as well as Sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) generally
other participating water utilities) and the following water authorities: the U.S. include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels
Environmental Protection Agency, the American Water Works Association, the over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves organic and
Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies and the Association of State Drinking inorganic minerals, and may pick up radioactive material and substances resulting
Water Administrators, all of whom help to sponsor the program. from animal or human activity.
The program was established to provide safe, high-quality drinking water to the BPU’s water comes from the Missouri River watershed, which represents
public that exceeds certain EPA regulations. Less than one percent of all utilities nearly one-sixth of the area of the continental United States. The Missouri River
nationwide receive this award, and BPU was the first utility in the metro area to carries runoff from predominantly rural, non-industrialized regions. BPU water
receive this honor. is collected and filtered through two horizontal collector wells in an aquifer deep
BPU has also received the Platinum Award for Utility Excellence from the below the Missouri River.
Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), one of a select few Before this “raw” water turns into drinking water, it is cleaned, treated and tested
utilities in the country to receive this recognition. The award recognized BPU’s at BPU’s Nearman Water Treatment Plant. The plant opened in 2000, and offers
accomplishments in applying competitive business strategies to meet the the latest treatment and technology methods available. Once the water meets or
expectations of drinking water consumers and municipal leaders. AMWA is the surpasses all regulations, it is then distributed through underground pipes to our
organization for the nation’s largest public drinking water utilities. customers.
BPU also has water interconnections with Kansas City, Missouri and Johnson
We want our valued customers to be informed! County (Kansas) Water District No. 1 (WaterOne). Both of these water systems
The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities (BPU) serves over 53,000 water also use the Missouri River as their water supply source.
customers in a service area of approximately 152 square miles. This service area
Is your water safe to drink? Yes it is!
includes Kansas City, Kansas, Edwardsville, southern Leavenworth County, parts of
Bonner Springs and a small section of northern Johnson County. BPU’s state-of- BPU’s water quality consistently exceeds all federal and state standards. Federal
the art water system has the capacity to pump 72 million gallons of water a day and state regulations include procedures and schedules to monitor water from the
(MGD), including one water treatment facility; three major pump stations; 1,000 source to the tap. The Kansas Department of Health & Environment (KDHE)
miles of water pipes and two of the nation’s largest horizontal collector wells. assures that the state’s public water systems comply with all regulations, follow
This report describes the quality of your drinking water and how BPU complies monitoring schedules and report results. Certified by the State of Kansas, BPU’s
with water regulations that protect your health. This document also complies with laboratory monitors the physical, chemical and microbiological characteristics of the
the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act, which requires water utilities to provide water utility’s water. In addition, the Operating Staff of the Nearman Water Treatment
quality information to customers every year. Plant is state-certified by KDHE.
To learn more, visit BPU’s web site at www.bpu.com, or go to the Environmental During the 2023 calendar year, The Kansas City Board of Public Utilities’
Protection Agency Web site at www.epa.gov/safewater. Visitors are also welcome public water system (Federal PWSID: KS2020906) incurred a Failure to Monitor
to attend BPU’s regularly scheduled Board meetings or join via Zoom, usually held Violation. Even though this was not an emergency, as our customers, you have a
on the first and third Wednesday of each month at 6:00 p.m., at 540 Minnesota right to know what happened and what we did to correct the situation. We are
Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas. To confirm the exact date and time of the next BPU required to monitor your drinking water for specific contaminants on a regular
Board meeting, call (913) 573-9024. basis. According to the KDHE laboratory records, KCBPU did not complete
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