March 29, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information contact: Water Distribution, 269-966-3496
Annual hydrant flushing starts Sunday night, April 7
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — City Water crews will begin the annual fire hydrant flushing program Sunday night, April 7 – earlier than usual.
The program is expected to finish around May 10. Crews will flush hydrants overnight Sunday through Thursday, 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. They follow this schedule to minimize the inconvenience to our customers, and allow the water to stabilize in the mains before the normal daily water demand occurs.
The Water team will perform this work early – it usually begins on Memorial Day – to accommodate schedules for other projects, and finish flushing before the main construction season starts.
The flushing process often results in cloudy or discolored water; please be mindful of this while doing laundry or other tasks that could be affected. We do what we can to limit this, and the water always is safe during the process. Discolored or rusty water may be present in the area being flushed, as well as in adjacent areas. If you should encounter discolored water, we recommend that you run water at cold taps in your home or business.
A schedule and map of our planned flushing program is available on our website, battlecreekmi.gov. Check out the City Spotlight section at the bottom of the home page. Staff will update this page daily with maps of flushing progress across the city.
Flushing hydrants and water mains provides several benefits to our water system users. Regular flushing provides water of the highest quality to our customers. It also allows our crews to verify that our water system is operating properly, and identify areas that require repair and/or maintenance. It also ensures that fire hydrants are ready for use should the Fire Department need them.
We appreciate everyone’s patience as we maintain our city’s infrastructure.
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