Press Releases

The City of Topeka Utilities Department is joining communities across North America in celebrating Drinking Water Week, May 4-10, 2025. This annual observance led by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) serves to highlight the importance of healthy drinking water and recognize the tireless efforts of water professionals who keep it flowing around the clock in our communities.

“Drinking Water Week is a reminder of how essential safe, reliable water is to every part of our lives – from the moment we wake up to the time we turn in for the night. I’m proud of the dedicated professionals in our Utilities Department who work around the clock to ensure our customers have access to clean water every single day,” said Utilities Director Sylvia Davis.

During Drinking Water Week, the City of Topeka will share a behind-the-scenes look at the treatment process, water conservation tips, and messages from water staff and Director Davis on its social media platforms. The City also shared activities and information with local elementary schools to encourage water education for young residents.

“Drinking Water Week is a time to celebrate the incredible journey of our water, from source water to treatments to our taps,” said AWWA CEO David LaFrance. “This year, we invite communities to explore the science and recognize the dedicated professionals behind our water who ensure every drop meets the highest standards of quality and safety.”

The City of Topeka Utilities Department is marking Drinking Water Week by engaging the community in understanding the vital role of clean, safe water in daily life, including its importance for public health and environmental protection.

About Drinking Water Week
For several decades, AWWA and its members have celebrated Drinking Water Week, a unique opportunity for both water professionals and the communities they serve to join together in recognizing the vital role water plays in daily lives. Free materials for download and additional information about Drinking Water Week are available on the Drinking Water Week webpage.

The City of Topeka Utilities Department will resume utility disconnections next week. Utility accounts not in good standing may be subject to disconnect. We encourage customers wanting to make payment arrangements or having difficulty paying their bills to call us at 368-3111 to take advantage of the various options we have available.

Utility bills can be paid at City Express at 620 SE Madison, the customer service call center or at authorized US Bank locations. City Express is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Customer Service Call Center is open between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and is available to work with customers to help keep their balances due manageable during this time. Customers who need to pay their water bill in cash can do so at authorized US Bank locations at the drive through window. US Bank hours vary by location. Bills can also be paid by phone at 785-368-3111 or online at www.topeka.org/payonline.

Doorstep, Let’s Help, the Salvation Army and the City of Topeka created the Water Share Program to assist citizens in need with their COT water utility bill. Please contact one of the agencies directly to request assistance.

• Doorstep 785-357-5341
• Let’s Help 785-234-6208
• Salvation Army 785-233-9648

The Utilities Refund Program (Franchise Fee Program) also offers assistance for utility bills. Please contact the Community Resources Council to apply 785-233-1365. For citizens looking for a way to help, you may go to www.topeka.org/utilities/watershare or call 785-368-3111. Donations may be set up as reoccurring monthly or you may select to make a one-time donation. The donation amount will be added to your next City of Topeka water bill.

The City of Topeka’s utility relocations are underway in Downtown Topeka in preparation for the larger Polk-Quincy Viaduct Reconstruction project, which is being led by the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT).

The city must relocate sanitary sewer, storm sewer and water utilities before reconstruction of the viaduct can begin in the spring of 2025. Work will include replacing and relocating aged infrastructure, some of which is nearly 100 years old.

The city’s utility relocations include six total projects in the general area of the viaduct. The viaduct spans I-70 from MacVicar Ave. to 6^th St.

In total, approximately 12,600 square yards of pavement, 7,035 feet of sanitary sewer, 2,644 feet of storm sewer and 6,009 feet of water line will be removed and replaced.

The first of the six projects, identified as Project 2, included the closure of 1^st St. between Polk St. and Taylor St. This project included new water line and is scheduled to be complete in January 2024.

The remaining five projects, referred to as projects 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are set to begin in early 2024. Project timelines will be coordinated to help minimize traffic and construction impacts to businesses, drivers and residents. While the city will make efforts to minimize full road closures and maintain two-way traffic throughout construction, commuters who regularly drive the I-70 corridor through downtown should plan for potentially significant traffic delays. Alternate routes are encouraged. Detour information will be posted and shared in advance of any full road closure.

The city developed a website that is dedicated to these utility relocation projects. To view detour information, status updates and more, please visit https://www.topeka.org/utilities/pqv/.

City of Topeka Utilities Director Sylvia Davis is expected to make a presentation about these projects to the Governing Body during the January 9, 2024 Topeka City Council Meeting. Listen in person or watch live on Cox Local Channel 4, Facebook or the City4 Livestream. Community members are encouraged to tune in to learn more about the projects.

 

In November 2019 the City of Topeka established an ordinance to require the registration of vacant properties and properties that are the subject of mortgage foreclosure proceedings. The registration of vacant properties is to help address the deterioration, crime and decline in property values in Topeka by identifying, regulating and working to limit and reduce the number of vacant properties in the community. Letters have been sent out by the city’s contractor ProChamps to owners of properties that have been determined to be vacant for more than 180 days.
ProChamps implements the registration requirement for properties that have been vacant more than 180 days pursuant to TMC 8.65. ProChamps recently mailed out 1,400 letters requiring owners of these properties to register. If a particular owner wishes to dispute whether his or her property is vacant, the owner can do so through the internet link provided on the notice and choose the dispute option on the link. Property Maintenance staff will review the dispute, make a determination whether the property falls within the purview of the ordinance, and will notify the property owner. We apologize for any alarm or inconvenience this may have caused and, again, encourage those who received a letter and wish to file a dispute to follow the process outlined above.
If the property owner has questions concerning the City’s determination, the owner can contact Property Maintenance staff by email at mhaugen@topeka.org or call 785-368-3161. If the property owner has questions about how to dispute an initial determination, the owner can contact Prochamps at support@prochamps.com or 1-888-463-7770.

In its ongoing commitment to support community endeavors and quality of place, Vision Bank will make a $10,000 donation to support the Topeka Zoo as a zoo Business Partner during a check presentation Friday, March 1, at 2:00 PM. Media are invited to attend. “The Topeka Zoo is a cornerstone of our community,” said Vision Bank President Gary Yager. “Over 200,000 people go there every year. It’s one of the great places where our customers and our community go to play. Vision Bank is proud to support this cause for our community.”

Vision Bank’s support of the Topeka Zoo dates back to 2010. Not long after a giraffe named Hope was born, a Nile River hippopotamus unexpectedly gave birth. The following weekend at a charity auction attended by Yager, the naming rights to the baby hippo were auctioned off. A few days later the baby hippo was named Vision. With Hope and Vision, the Topeka Zoo began an upward trend still being experienced today.

“The support from Vision Bank goes well beyond the financial support,” said Zoo Director Brendan Wiley. “Gary and his team helped form relationships with other community stakeholders and got us into conversations we otherwise would have been left out of.” Vision Bank support has led to other zoo improvements that can be found in the zoo’s Bug Zoo, Camp Cowabunga and the future Kay’s Garden and they have supported numerous fundraising events which help offset operating costs at the zoo.

Business Partnerships are a fun way for local businesses to support the mission of the Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center. Business Partners receive promotional opportunities and access to special events.  They award field trip tickets to local schools and promote access to the zoo. For more information about Topeka Zoo Business Partnerships, contact Fundraising and Event Specialist Shelby Revelle at 785-368-9133 or shelbyr@fotz.org .

Following the check presentation, Gary and Vision will be available for comments and photographs.  When Gary first met Vision, the tiny hippo weighed only seventy pounds. Today, Vision weighs in at approximately 2,700 pounds. The Topeka Zoo would like to extend its thanks to Vision Bank for all of the ways they promote growth in our community.

The City of Topeka Utility Department is advising Topeka area residents to avoid contact with local waterways flowing throughout the City until further notice due to the inundation of the City’s storm and sanitary sewer systems. With the heavy rains the local infrastructure is struggling with excess water (commonly referred to as inflow and infiltration) in the sanitary sewer system. Stormwater can enter into the sewer system through illegally connected residential sump pumps and roof drains, as well as cracked sewer pipes and manhole covers. This excess water is currently causing areas of the system to overflow into nearby waterways.
The Department is also actively working to complete repairs to a broken sanitary sewer force main near 2501 SW Randolph that caused untreated sewage to flow into a small tributary that flows to Shunganunga Creek near Big Shunga Park. Temporary repairs were completed Tuesday, however the pipe was compromised again early Wednesday morning. Permanent repairs are ongoing.
Residents are advised to practice safe and common sense hygiene, like avoiding immersion and ingestion, keeping pets out of the water and washing hands before eating. Topeka staff will continue to monitor the water in local creeks and waterways and provide notification when the advisory can be lifted. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has been notified and is advising.

The City of Topeka water system received notice on February 16th from Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) stating that we went out of compliance on haloacetic acids (HAA), which is 1 of the 87 contaminants that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates for drinking water quality.

When disinfection (such as the use of chlorine) is used in the treatment of drinking water, disinfectants combine with organic and inorganic matter present in water to form compounds called disinfection byproducts (DBP). The EPA sets standards for controlling the levels of DBP in drinking water, including HAA. Compliance is based on the four-quarter average of sample results for each of the eight locations where HAA samples are collected in Topeka, called a locational running annual average (LRAA). The LRAA standard for any one location is 60 micrograms/liter. We received results on February 7th that showed 60.6 micrograms/liter at one location—all other locations were within the standard. According to our records this is the 1st time that The City of Topeka has been out of compliance for any drinking water standard.

This is not an emergency and customers do not need to seek an alternative water source such as bottled water. However, if you have specific health concerns please consult your doctor.

We are working with our consultant to evaluate and modify our water treatment process to avoid any future violations. The modifications to the treatment processes we are examining include the use of powdered activated carbon (PAC) and changes in our polymer.  With the use of PAC and changes to the polymer we would be able to improve the removal of organics that cause the formation of HAA and provide improved taste and odor control. These process modifications would allow the City’s water treatment operators better control of the quality of water that is being delivered to our customers.

The City of Topeka Utilities Department is dedicated to providing clean and safe water to every customer, and we anticipate resolving this issue within 180 days. We will continue to keep you, the customer, informed as we move forward.

Please go to our City of Topeka website Topeka.org where we have crafted some FAQ’s.

If you have any other concerns regarding this incident please call

City of Topeka: 785-368-3111

Jingga, an eight year old female Sumatran Tiger, at the Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center is pregnant. Ultrasound has confirmed two, probably three and possibly four cubs.
The cubs are due to be born sometime in October. “While we know there were a lot of fireworks going off in the tiger habitat on July 4, we don’t know if that is the actual date the cubs were conceived,” said Zoo Director Brendan Wiley. Sumatran tiger gestation typically has a range of 90 to 110 days.
The father of the cubs is Sanjiv, a seven year old Sumatran Tiger who was born at Zoo Atlanta. He transferred to the Topeka Zoo in 2017 from the Akron Zoo at the recommendation of the Sumatran Tiger SSP. This is the first time that Sanjiv has fathered any offspring.
Eight year old, Jingga was born at the Sacramento Zoo and came to Topeka in 2012. In 2014, Jingga gave birth to three tiger cubs who now reside at the Nashville Zoo.
Sumatran Tigers are critically endangered with only about 400 Sumatran Tigers left in the wild. The Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center is an active participant in the Sumatran Tiger Species Survival Plan which strives to maintain enough genetic diversity to manage a healthy population of tigers under human care for 100 years. During that 100 year time frame, it is hoped that enough problems can be corrected in their native habitats that it will be safe enough for tiger populations to begin growing through natural breeding and tiger reintroductions back to the wild.
Patrons of the locally owned Blind Tiger Brewery and Restaurant who drink Tiger Bite IPA also support Sumatran Tiger Conservation. A quarter from every draw sold goes to the Topeka Zoo’s Conservation Fund. The funding then goes to the Sumatran Tiger Species Survival Plan housed at the Minnesota Zoo. From there, the funding goes to the Wildlife Conservation Society which has a field office on the Island of Sumatra in Southeast Asia. The funding is then used to hire an armed wildlife ranger by the name of Badar Johan who works daily to prevent illegal poaching and illegal farming and deforestation.

For the past several years, Trumpeter Swans hatched at the Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center have been released back to the wild to bolster the wild population. This morning, two wild Trumpeter Swans dropped in for a visit with the pair of Trumpeters that call the Topeka Zoo home.
In the early 1900’s, Trumpeter Swans nearly became extinct. With laws in place to protect them and active breed and release programs, the species has made a dramatic turnaround and the population today is estimated to be in excess of 35,000 birds.
Trumpeter Swans range from Alaska and Western Canada down into the Northern United States. Kansas is typically not considered to be part of their normal range. The weather front that passed through this past weekend most likely pushed them further South.
The arrival of the visiting swans made for an interesting morning at the zoo. “It definitely got our attention,” said Zoo Director Brendan Wiley. ”We don’t know how long they will stay with us but they are welcome for as long as they want.”