• Continously playing loud or offensive music could be considered a private nuisance.Kick Images/Photodisc/Getty Images
  
  A public nuisance is an activity that harms the community, and a private nuisance is one that detracts from the enjoyment of the property of others. A public nuisance is a criminal matter and can include such activities as selling drugs or employing prostitutes --- activities that are seen as detrimental to the community in general. Private nuisances are civil matters and could include a refuse pile on your property that detracts from the value or enjoyment of a neighbor's property.
  
  

Criminal Activities

• Numerous criminal activities constitute a public nuisance. Many criminal activities pose a direct and significant harm to the community in general just by their existence. In Kansas, many of these criminal activities are what some call victimless crimes, because they are essentially vices that arguably harm only the willing participants in the illegal activity. These activities include gambling, prostitution and drug use. The rationale behind characterizing these activities as public nuisances is that even if some argue they represent victimless crimes, these activities can have a relatively indirect detrimental effect on the community as a whole. In Kansas, these activities are known as "common nuisances" and also include promoting obscenity and selling alcohol unlawfully.
  
  

Intentional Private Nuisances

• A private nuisance is a tort under Kansas law, meaning that it is a legal issue handled in civil, rather than criminal court. An intentional private nuisance requires intentional and unlawful action on the part of one individual or organization that interferes with the enjoyment of another person's land. To constitute intentional private nuisance, it must be shown that the actor either had purpose or intent to cause a nuisance or knew it was substantially certain that a nuisance would result from their actions. Actions that may constitute such a tort could include playing music loudly to disturb a neighbor.
  
  

Pollution of Water

• Kansas also has established that the pollution or contamination of "waters of the state" can constitute a nuisance as such pollution is likely to create a public health concern. Waters of the state, for the purposes of this provision, include all streams and springs and all bodies of surface and subsurface water within the boundaries of the state.