Photo: Bhall87 · CC BY-SA 3.0Living in Reading, KS: what to set up and who to call
Tap water in Reading comes from the City of Reading water system, which has a clean five-year EPA record (about 23% of systems its size had a health-based violation) and a latest lead result of 0.8 ppb. Osage City Public Library, 10.6 miles away, is the closest library to Reading.
I’m new in town
What to set up in Reading, and who provides it. Tap an answer for the details and where they come from.
Power, water and internet
Who to call to start service at a new address in Reading.
Power comes from Evergy
Evergy (Evergy Kansas Central, Inc.), an investor-owned utility, serves all of Reading. Its homes paid an average of 14.6¢ per kWh in 2025, about $124 a month (its average across Kansas).
Start or move service: evergy.com
Service territory: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map dated Aug 2023). Prices and customers: EIA-861, 2025.
Water comes from City of Reading water system
The City of Reading water system supplies Reading: about 91% of residents live in its service area. Lyon Co RWD 5 serves another 9%. It buys treated surface water (EPA lists Osage Co RWD 7 as seller) and serves 182 people in all.
No health-based violations reported to EPA in the five years to October 2026, like 77% of the 15,074 systems serving 101–500 people.
The latest lead result on file, the 90th percentile of homes sampled in Jan 2023–Dec 2025, was 0.8 ppb, below the 15 ppb action level that applied. The highest in five years was 1.3 ppb. That’s lower than 50% of similar systems’ latest results.
The system’s full record: EPA ECHO report
EPA SDWIS via Envirofacts (violations pulled Oct 9, 2026) and ECHO (lead samples, 2026Q3); service area: EPA Community Water System Service Area Boundaries v3.0. Violations are counted by the start of their compliance period. KS2011114.
Which providers serve Reading
This card will list the home internet providers the FCC’s National Broadband Map shows in Reading, the share of addresses that can get 100/20 Mbps and the share with fiber, with the map’s “as of” date.
Source to come: FCC Broadband Data Collection.
We don’t have Reading’s trash rules yet
Pickup rules, the dump and recycling in Reading.
Where your child goes to school
Public school districts and the school path by grade.
Reading is in North Lyon County Unified School District 251.
Test scores and every school: see Schools →U.S. Department of Education, NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25. Enrollment rules and registration are the district’s.
Town hall and registering to vote
Who to call, and how to register.
Election office: FVAP local election office directory, updated Aug 2015; jurisdictions: EAC EAVS 2024. Registration rules and links: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Reading is in ZIP code 66868
ZIP codes where Reading residents live, with the share of the town in each.
| ZIP | Post office name | Share of Reading | ZIP’s residents in Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| 66868 | Reading, KS | 100% | 24% |
Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, by census block; post office names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). ZIPs created since 2020 are missing.
Getting around, the ER and the library
One line each; the subject pages have the rest.
ER: CMS hospital data. Library: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024.
Questions about living in Reading
Who supplies Reading’s drinking water, and has it had violations?
The City of Reading water system (EPA ID KS2011114). It reported no health-based violations to EPA in the five years to October 2026; 77% of systems its size had none. Its latest lead 90th percentile was 0.8 ppb (Jan 2023–Dec 2025), against a 15 ppb action level.
Who provides electricity in Reading?
Evergy (Evergy Kansas Central, Inc.), an investor-owned utility. Its homes paid about 14.6¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA).
What ZIP codes are in Reading?
66868. Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.
What school district is Reading in?
North Lyon County Unified School District 251.
How do I register to vote in Reading?
In Kansas you can register online until 21 days before Election Day, in person until 21 days before Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 21 days before). Elections here are run by the Lyon County Clerk. Check your registration at myvoteinfo.voteks.org.
Sources & dates
Every answer above names its source. Here they are with their dates.
- Water: EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts, pulled Oct 9, 2026), ECHO SDWA 2026Q3, EPA CWS Service Area Boundaries v3.0.
- Power: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map Aug 2023); EIA-861 final 2025.
- Trash: OpenStreetMap, Geofabrik extract of Oct 9, 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
- ZIP codes: Census 2020 ZCTA relationship files; GeoNames postal codes (CC BY 4.0).
- Schools: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25.
- Registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024 (read Oct 10, 2026). Official sites and area codes: Wikidata.
- Election office: FVAP local election office directory (fetched Oct 10, 2026; each record dated), EAC EAVS 2024 jurisdictions; registration and lookup links from vote.gov’s state data, checked Oct 10, 2026.
- Internet (FCC): pending.