Why is hydrant flushing necessary?

Hydrant flushing is a periodic maintenance activity to clean and flush the City water mains. Over time, particles and minerals can build up in the water mains. Chlorine is added to the water at the treatment plants to ensure the water is safe to drink when it reaches our customers. As more deposits build up, additional chlorine needs to be added to the water which results in higher treatment costs and a less appealing taste for our customers. The deposits that build up also react with chlorine and increase the potential formation of disinfection byproducts. Flushing the fire hydrants mobilizes and removes the particles and minerals that have built up in the water mains, assisting the City in delivering higher quality water from the treatment plants to customers’ taps.

Show All Answers

1. Why is hydrant flushing necessary?
2. What is "unidirectional" flushing?
3. Who will be affected? What locations?
4. What impacts will residents and businesses see during the flushing?
5. What is the City doing to minimize the impacts?
6. Isn't this a waste of water?
7. Why don't we just capture the water and reuse it?
8. Are we polluting the river with the runoff?
9. If we have any additional questions, who do we call?