57

THE KANSAS LIFELINE

July 2018

Michael Tripp, Purchasing and Materials

Manager at WaterOne, accepted the

trophy for Best Tasting Water in Kansas.

rink up! It’s “Quality on Tap!”

The best tasting water in

Kansas is produced by

WaterOne. So says the team of

professionals who judged water from

WaterOne as the Best Tasting Water in

Kansas during the 51st Annual

Conference & Exhibition.  Michael

Tripp, Purchasing and Materials

Manager at WaterOne, accepted the

award.

WaterOne is an independent water

utility, serving approximately 425,000

customers in the Johnson County area.

As the largest water utility in Kansas,

WaterOne is dedicated to setting the

standard for utility excellence.  

WaterOne dates back to 1957 when

citizens in the Mission, Kansas area

were unsatisfied with the value and

service from their water provider,

organized to buy out the Kansas City

Suburban Water Company. They

reincorporated as public water provider

Water District No. 1 of Johnson

County. Today, the system is known as

WaterOne and has grown to service

many communities in Johnson County.

The system has two water sources;

they are the Missouri River and Kansas

River. System capacity is 200 million

gallons per day to meet customers’

needs.

Michell Worth, WaterOne's Director

of Production, commented in the

submitted by cities and rural water

districts. This is the first year the city

of Russell has participated in the

contest.  

Russell's water supply is from two

sources; surface water from Big Creek

and groundwater from its Pfiefer

Wellfield. Treatment involves a

combination of water softening and an

EDR (electrodialysis reversal) plant to

blend surface and groundwater

together.  The plant has five operators

and one plant supervisor.  

D

utility's spring

newsletter Current

that the award is

a reflection of

the hard work

that goes into

making great

tasting tap water

for WaterOne’s

customers

every day of the

year. “There really is

an art to water treatment, from our

source waters in the Kansas and

Missouri Rivers all the way to our

customers’ homes,” said Michelle.

“This award confirms that our

extensive, multi-tiered treatment

process produces water that is clean,

safe, and tastes delicious!”

A fresh sample of water from

WaterOne will go up against the

winner in each state rural water

association in the “Great American

Water Taste Test” to be held in

Washington, D.C. next February.

Russell places second

The city of Russell serves 2,400

customers. The water system has a

production capacity of 1.5 million

gallons per day to meet customers’

needs. City Manager Jon Quinday

comments that the city of Russell is

proud to have placed second in the

contest as nearly 30 samples were

WaterOne Judged “Best Tasting Water In

Kansas”; City of Russell Places Second