By JOHN McCALLUM
Managing Editor
CHENEY – If it’s spring, it’s time for some discolored water.
Water Department crews begin flushing the city’s water mains soon, a needed annual practice often resulting in discolored water emanating from residents’ faucets. While not confined to just one area, Public Works Director Todd Ableman said most discolored water calls come from the Salnave area around well 5.
“That seems to be our most problem area,” he said. “Well 5 is heavy in iron content and we get most our problems there.”
Utilities flush their lines yearly to remove iron and other minerals that build up in the lines over time. The flushing procedure involves crews opening one fire hydrant at a time and letting the water run from the hydrant until it turns clear, which can take several hours.
With about 500 hydrants in Cheney, Ableman expects the process to last several months, a conservative estimate also based on the possibility of running into problem areas. Currently, crews are working up the city’s newest well, well 3 — which was successfully re-drilled and brought on line last year — in order to fine tune it’s SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system in preparation for further use.
Ableman said crews would be at the well this week, and once done will begin flushing in the Salnave area the following week. Crews will rotate through the city, working their way up from Salnave to Eastern Washington University and north before finishing up along State Route 904/1st Street.
While well 5 tends to have a heavier iron content, other parts of the city are cleaner sources, such as around wells 1 and 2 located on EWU’s campus just off Elm Street. Well 6 is near the Utility Building, 7 and 8 are out of town, and 3 is on Erie Street very close to the city’s reservoirs between 9th and 10th streets.
Even so, officials caution that discolored water can occur anywhere, including having discolored water in the north during a period when the flushing is taking place in the south.
In its Connections newsletter, city officials said the discolored water is safe to drink, but it’s advisable not to because it can have a bad taste. If water from the tap is discolored, residents should simply keep running the water until it becomes clear. City official also advise against doing laundry when your water is discolored, and residents can contact the Water Department for a list of products that will remove mineral stains.
Using well 3 — which can produce over 1,100 gallons per minute — last year enabled the city to do a citywide flush, something Ableman said they hadn’t done in years using the other wells. This year’s flushing should be accomplished using wells 1 and 2 — which serve the city all year long — and well 5, with well 3 brought on only if the weather warms up and residents begin irrigating their lawns.
Ableman said it will be interesting to see how the system responds after last year’s city-wide cleaning.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing how fast our mains clean,” he added.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
Reader Comments(0)