Bottled water sales, restaurant reaction vary across county
Hillsboro and Marion restaurants are responding in various ways to the water/algae situation that developed two weeks ago.
At Olde Towne Restaurant & Bakery, Hillsboro, owner Linden Thiessen said diners are brought ice water only if they ask for it. "It's iffy, but ever since this (situation) began, we are trying to cooperate, even watching how much we fill the pots when we do dishes."
Thiessen said the restaurant serves tap water to customers, unless they ask for bottled water, which is also available for fearful diners.
"We filter our water, anyway," Thiessen said.
At Pizza Hut in Hillsboro, manager Toni Williams said customers get iced tap water only if requested. With the recent rains, "we haven't had to water the grass lately," she said, but that may become necessary soon.
Brenda McGinness, co-owner, with her husband, David, of McGillicuddy's Restaurant, Marion, said that, as a conservation measure, servers at their eatery do not bring customers ice water unless they request it.
She noticed long ago, McGinness said, that many diners don't "touch" the water, and therefore a great deal of it is wasted. So, policy at McGillicuddy's is, you can have water, certainly, if you want it.
But it's "don't ask, don't get." And tap water is what diners are served.
None of the Marion cafes surveyed serve bottled water.
At Stone City Café, Deborah Cook, co-owner, said, "we just have a habit to take it (a glass of ice water for each person) to each table when people are seated.
It's tap water, and the Stone City coffee is brewed with it, too.
Roy Wiggans, shift manager at Pizza Hut of Marion, said Saturday that "there's been no problem with the water. We serve customers what they want, and if they order coffee, they automatically get a glass of water, too."
He said that if a customer orders a soft drink or iced tea, no water is brought to them unless they request it.
Jay Smith, at Gambino's, said, "Only if they ask for it. And it's tap water." He added that they are using their dishwater a little longer now before changing it, to conserve water.
And the tap water he's serving at the pizza restaurant is from his own private well at his home, by the way.
At Kingfisher's Inn, diners are automatically served a glass of iced tap water, Kathy Sprowls, co-owner, said Saturday.
"A few, just a very few, have asked if it's fit to drink, that's all," she said.
Bottled water demand
At Vogt's IGA in Hillsboro, owner Jerold Vogt on Wednesday said yes, the demand for bottled water has increased "a little, but not a whole bunch
At Dale's Supermarket, also in Hillsboro, head cashier Amy Suderman said the store had not been selling a lot of bottled water. "Maybe a little more than normal."
At the Alco Discount Store in Hillsboro, sales of bottled water have been fairly brisk since the water crisis began two weeks ago, according to group manager Kayla Rader.
"We started selling more of it at that time," she said. This includes six-packs of individual bottles, gallons, and 20-ounce bottles, she added. "Anything, any size, basically."
Greg Carlson, at Carlsons' IGA, Marion, said, "Yes, we're selling a lot of bottled water. Twice as many as usual, I'd say, of the 5-gallon containers, and three times as many of the one-gallon ones.
"The small bottles are not going so fast," he added.
At Duckwall's, a sales associate said the store was not "moving" a lot of bottled water on Saturday, and had not sold a great deal of it earlier in the week, either, at least not when she was on duty.
At Ampride, bottled water sales were definitely up, a sales associate said. She said she had sold 50 twenty-ounce bottles Saturday between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., or about 10 per hour.
At Casey's, an employee said not a lot of bottle water was being sold. The 350 bikers with "Biking Across Kansas," in Marion Wednesday night and Thursday morning, did buy a lot of water, but it was not related to the Marion Reservoir algae situation, the clerk said.
"There's been no great run on it here since Wednesday (June 11)," she said.
At Marion Manor, an employee said, "We try to be pretty conservative with water use all of the time." She said the long-term care facility had not started using plastic utensils and plastic or paper plates because residents really don't like them, especially paper plates.
But, "If we need to do it, we need to be told so," she concluded, indicating a desire by the facility to "do its civic duty."
