TL;DR: Households served by Franklin County RWD 2, Franklin County RWD 3, and the City of Princeton should boil tap water for one minute before drinking or cooking, or use bottled water, under a Kansas Department of Health and Environment advisory that took effect July 31, 2026.

Advisory in effect for three Franklin County systems

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued a boil water advisory Friday for three public water supply systems in Franklin County, according to KSHB reporting on the KDHE news release.

The systems named are Franklin Co RWD 2, Franklin Co RWD 3, and the City of Princeton public water supply system, all located in Franklin County.

The advisory took effect on July 31, 2026, according to the release provided by Franklin County - Kansas and distributed as "Boil Water Advisory Issued for Franklin County RWD 2, RWD 3 and City of Princeton."

The order remains in effect until further notice, until the conditions that placed the systems at risk of bacterial contamination are resolved.

No rescind date had been announced by the cutoff for this July 31 report. Customers should observe the listed precautions until further notice.

Why KDHE issued the order

KDHE officials issued the advisory because the systems cannot currently maintain the minimum required chlorine residual.

Failure to maintain required chlorine residual levels may put the system at risk for bacterial contamination, according to the KDHE release summarized by KSHB.

The notice does not state that illness has been confirmed. It describes a risk condition tied to disinfection levels, not a confirmed test result showing bacteria in the tap supply.

That distinction matters for household planning. Residents are being asked to treat water as potentially at risk while system conditions are corrected and verified.

Who should take precautions

Anyone who receives drinking water from Franklin Co RWD 2 should follow the advisory.

Anyone who receives drinking water from Franklin Co RWD 3 should follow the advisory.

Anyone who receives drinking water from the City of Princeton water system should follow the advisory.

People who are uncertain which rural water district serves their address were directed to a district lookup tool referenced in the county release. The release states, "If you are unsure about your water district you can check" through the linked lookup.

Households outside those three named systems were not listed in the July 31 action. Residents who receive water from another utility or a private well were not included in the stated coverage.

Drinking and cooking: boil one minute or use bottled water

The central household instruction is to boil water for one minute prior to drinking or food preparation or use bottled water.

For practical planning, that means setting aside either a supply of sealed bottled water for drinking and meal preparation, or a clean pot and heat source for bringing tap water to a full boil for the stated duration.

Allow boiled water to cool before direct drinking, food mixing, washing produce intended to be eaten without further cooking, preparing infant formula where bottled water is not available, brushing teeth, and any other use where water could be swallowed.

The advisory lists drinking and food preparation together. Households should apply the same choice — boiled tap water or bottled water — to both categories while the order remains active.

Keep a separate container for cooled boiled water so family members do not mistakenly drink untreated tap water during the advisory period.

Ice, discolored water, and flushing lines

Customers were told to dispose of ice cubes and not to use ice from a household automatic icemaker.

That step covers cubes already stored in freezer trays and bins. Empty the bin, discard the stored supply, and leave the automatic icemaker off or avoid collecting its output until the advisory is lifted.

If tap water appears dirty, customers were advised to flush the water lines by letting the water run until it clears.

In household terms, that means opening the tap and allowing discolored flow to pass before collecting water for boiling, cleaning, or other uses. Use the cleared water only in line with the other advisory precautions, since clear appearance alone does not end the boil requirement.

Do not rely on appearance, taste, or odor to decide whether unboiled water is safe to drink while the July 31 advisory remains in place.

Dishes and food-contact surfaces

The county release sets out a specific disinfection step for dishes and other food contact surfaces.

Disinfect those items by immersion for at least one minute in clean tap water that contains one teaspoon of unscented household bleach per gallon of water.

To apply that instruction, households need clean tap water, a basin large enough for full immersion, unscented household bleach, and a measuring teaspoon for the per-gallon proportion stated in the notice.

The one-minute immersion time and the one-teaspoon-per-gallon proportion are the only disinfection measurements given for this advisory. No other bleach concentration, product type, or contact time was listed for dish and surface treatment.

Allow items to remain fully covered for the full period described, then handle them in a way that avoids renewed contact with untreated water.

Bathing, children, and cuts or rashes

Water used for bathing does not generally need to be boiled, according to the KDHE precautions.

Supervision of children is necessary while bathing so that water is not ingested.

That means an adult should remain present and actively prevent drinking, gulping, or playful swallowing of bath water, especially for infants, toddlers, and young children who may put bath water in their mouths.

Persons with cuts or severe rashes may wish to consult their physicians about bathing during the advisory.

The notice does not direct all residents to avoid bathing. It identifies children needing supervision and people with open cuts or severe rashes who may want individualized medical guidance as the groups requiring extra care.

How this advisory ends

Regardless of whether the public water supplier or Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced a boil water advisory, only KDHE can issue the rescind order following testing at a certified laboratory.

That procedure was stated explicitly in the Franklin County release.

In practice, that means customers should not treat a message from another party, a return to normal pressure, restored chlorine readings, or clear-looking water as the end of the order. The advisory remains until KDHE issues the formal rescind notice based on laboratory testing.

Laboratory testing at a certified laboratory is the verification step named for lifting the order. No sample result lifting the Franklin County order had been announced in the materials available for July 31.

Contacts for households

For consumer questions, the county release lists direct contacts for each system and for the state agency.

Contact the Franklin Co RWD 2 water system at 785-242-4178 with questions about RWD 2 service.

Contact the Franklin Co RWD 3 water system at 785-893-4192 with questions about RWD 3 service.

Contact the City of Princeton water system at 785-937-4103 with questions about Princeton service.

Contact KDHE at 785-296-5514 for state-level consumer questions about the advisory.

KSHB also listed 785-296-5514 as the KDHE contact number for questions.

For background consumer information, KDHE points residents to its PWS Consumer Information webpage at https://www.kdhe.ks.gov/468/Disruption-in-Water-Service.

Guidance for restaurants and food establishments

Restaurants and other food establishments that have questions about the impact of the boil water advisory on their business can contact the Kansas Department of Agriculture's food safety and lodging program.

The listed email is [email protected].

The listed phone number is 785-564-6767.

That channel is separate from the household consumer numbers. Food operators in RWD 2, RWD 3, and Princeton should use the agriculture department contact for business-operation questions while continuing to follow the drinking, cooking, ice, and disinfection precautions.

What to do at home tonight

Confirm which system supplies your home. If your bill, hookup paperwork, or prior notice shows Franklin Co RWD 2, Franklin Co RWD 3, or City of Princeton, treat the July 31 advisory as applying to your taps.

Set out bottled water for drinking, cooking, and brushing teeth, or bring tap water to the one-minute boil described in the order before those uses.

Discard stored ice, pause use of ice from the household automatic icemaker, and run discolored taps until the flow clears before collecting water for allowed uses.

Prepare a separate basin for the bleach-based immersion step if you must wash dishes or food-contact surfaces by hand, using the teaspoon-per-gallon proportion and one-minute immersion stated in the release.

Supervise bathing children to prevent swallowing water, and have household members with cuts or severe rashes consider calling their physicians.

Keep the system phone numbers and the KDHE number accessible, and watch only for a KDHE rescind notice based on certified laboratory testing before resuming normal use of unboiled tap water for drinking and food preparation.

Sources referenced