By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
The weather forecast is calling for rain Tuesday, the same evening as a Hays WaterSmart environmental tour. One of the tour hosts, K-State Watershed Specialist Stacie Minson, won't mind if the event has to be postponed.
"We need the rain, and we'll let participants know that day if anything changes," Minson said.
Anyone with a connection to the city of Hays or Ellis County is invited on the bus tour, which is also sponsored by the city of Hays water resources department.
"We just want people to be aware their water doesn't just miraculously come out of a faucet and miraculously leave in a toilet. There's a lot of steps in-between so that they have a safe clean drinking water supply."
Participants will gather on the north side of Fort Hays State University Gross Memorial Coliseum at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday and ride in an air-conditioned FHSU bus to four locations.
The first stop is the drinking water treatment plant.
"We'll learn where the water comes from, how it comes into the city, how they treat it, and then how it's distributed back out into homes, businesses and schools."
The next stop is a contamination treatment unit in south-central Hays. The PACK tower takes underground water that was contaminated over the years by long-closed dry cleaners and gas stations in that area.
The water is treated so that it's safe to be used.
The third tour is the city water reclamation and reuse facility where water used in homes, schools and businesses is re-treated before leaving as effluent water.
"It goes downstream in Big Creek and the city of Hays re-uses it to water the municipal golf course and ball fields."
The final stop is Pleasant View Farms LLC, owned by the Ernie Binder family.
"We'll see how livestock producers, farmers, and ranchers are protecting Big Creek from pollutants and still maintaining a livestock/cropping operation."
"The big picture is we're all connected with water," Minson added. "We all need it and need to do the right thing, from conservation to water quality."
Supper be provided on the tour. For reservations, call Minson at 785-769-3297.