Why is hydrant flushing necessary?

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Hydrant flushing is necessary to maintain the high-quality water that is delivered to district customers.

It might be painful to watch clean drinking water bursting from a hydrant to be squandered into the street, especially with 100% of the state officially in a drought, but there are vital reasons for this. Besides being necessary to maintain high water quality, hydrant flushing assures that hydrants are in proper working condition in the event of a fire.

Routine hydrant flushing removes sediment and rust from the water and helps maintain proper chlorine concentrations in the water. This routine maintenance keeps the water moving thus preventing it from becoming stagnant and helps sustain the integrity of the pipes.

When hydrant flushing occurs in your neighborhood, you may notice slightly yellow, orange, or brownish colored water coming from your faucet. If this happens, run your cold water tap for three to five minutes. If the discoloration persists, call the District at 303-979-2333 and we will assist with further flushing.

Though it may seem that water is being wasted, flushing hydrants is an important preventive measure taken by the District to provide safe, clean drinking water to our customers.

August is National Water Quality Month! Learn how you can take preventative measures on maintaining the quality of our most precious resource at nationalwaterqualitymonth.org