TOWANDA, Kan. (KAKE) – A mysterious water leak in Towanda has city officials scrambling to find out when and how it happened. 

In a city council meeting just last month it was announced the leak was losing 50,000 gallons of water per day costing the city approximately $114,000. 

City Administrator Andy Newbrey said, “This whole thing has been baffling.”  

Newbrey thinks the leak started in June of 2023 when water costs jumped but after further investigation, he realized it may have started in June of 2022.  

The leak has raised a couple of concerns with residents such as, why did it take the city this long to address it? Is the water contaminated?  

Newbrey said, “So we do test the water just like any other water system. We test it regularly. Daily we take chlorine levels and monthly we test for microbes and same as any other water system does.” 

He said the water mains are 80 to 100 years old and staffing issues with the city’s maintenance team has been a contributing factor. 

“They started either new jobs or they retired. Our maintenance departments across the state have taken a pretty good hit as far as retirement and people changing jobs,” he said.

And when they leave, they take their experience with them. 

Newbrey said they have hired new maintenance workers who are in the process of obtaining certifications.  

Once they are certified they will be better equipped to help get to the root of this issue.