Water Quality Up, So Are Rates

Residents across Kansas have safer drinking water thanks to steps their communities have taken to rid the water of harmful elements such as uranium and arsenic. But those residents also are facing considerable hikes in water bills to pay for the improvements.

Lakin residents are paying water rates about 10 times higher than they had before the city began construction on a $6.5 million water treatment plant to eliminate naturally-occurring uranium from the drinking water.

Rates are up about three times in Clay Center, where the city has built a $10-million treatment plant also to deal with uranium, which can occur in some aquifers.

In Atwood, residents are paying double for water since the town hooked up lines to new wells. But Atwood water is now free of arsenic.