News & Notes
City plans chlorine burn this week
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment recommends that public water supplies that use a combined chlorine residual perform an annual cleaning of the water distribution system with a free chlorine residual. Parsons uses a combined chlorine residual to prevent the formation of disinfection by-products that can lead to an adverse human health impact. After an extended period of time, a combined chlorine residual can allow the formation of biogrowths in the distribution lines. While these biogrowths do not present a hazard to human health, they can deplete the chlorine residual that is necessary to prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses that can be harmful to humans, according to a release from the city of Parsons.
Parsons began using a free chlorine residual starting Monday and continuing for approximately three weeks. During that time, you may notice some chlorine taste and odor in the water. There is no cause for alarm, and this is being done purely as a precautionary measure and as part of ongoing efforts to provide Parsons with the safest possible drinking water. For questions regarding this process, please contact Derek Clevenger, director of utilities, 620-421-7020.
Orphan train riders
In 1894, 18 children between the ages of 2 and 17 arrived on the Orphan Train waiting to be adopted to prospective families in the Columbus area. Like these ehildren, over 250,000 orphan or abandoned children rode the Orphan Train from New York between 1854 to 1929 in hopes of finding a better life with a new family.
The Cherokee County Genealogical-Historical Library is hosting a special exhibit from the National Orphan Train Complex in Concordia from Tuesday, July 22, to Thursday, Aug. 14, at 100 S. Tennessee in Columbus. The library is open on Tuesday through Friday afternoons 1 to 5 p.m.
A special program is planned for 6:30 p .m. Tuesday, Aug. 5, at the Genealogy Library. Retha Thomas of Joplin will tell about her grandmother’s adventure as an orphan train rider. Diana Cowardin of Galena is related to a family who adopted an Orphan Train rider and Patti Street will share stories about those children who came to Columbus.
The public is welcome to the display and the special program.
