ATHENS UTILITIES BOARD
TO FLUSH AREA HYDRANTS

ATHENS, Tenn. (April 25, 2001) - The Athens Utilities Board (AUB) will be flushing fire hydrants throughout the city beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 27.

The work will involve seven teams of AUB crewmembers that will begin work simultaneously at various points throughout the system of hydrants. The effort will continue throughout the night until all hydrants have been flushed. Work should be completed by sunrise on Saturday the 28th.

Flushing the lines is preventive maintenance, a “housekeeping” step that ensures clean, sediment-free water year round. “This year, we are doing our spring cleanout in April, a month earlier than in past years,” said Jill Davis, AUB’s water superintendent. “We are moving to a twice-per-year cleaning schedule versus only once annually as in past years,” she said. Flushing earlier in the year ensures that the second flushing can be done prior to next winter’s water-freezing temperatures.

Each hydrant on the system will be opened and allowed to flow for several minutes, until crews verify that the water is clean with minimal sediment. Some hydrants may remain open longer, at a “lazy stream” pace, for several hours depending on their position in the system.

AUB urges area residents to keep these things in mind relative to water usage on Friday night and the following Saturday:

• During the flushing, residents will experience times of low water pressure. This is due to the loss of head pressure in the AUB reservoir that supplies the water for the flushing activities. Low water pressure will likely begin around 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. and will come and go throughout the night as various areas are flushed. A pump will run continuously at AUB’s water plant to help keep as much water in the supply reservoir as possible, but low-pressure periods during the work will be inevitable.
• Overnight on Friday, and even throughout Saturday, April 28th, when the work is finished, some areas may have turbid, or cloudy, water. This is the result of sediments and buildup being washed free of the lines by the high-velocity, high-volume water circulated through the system.
• Because of these sediments in the water, area residents should avoid washing clothes during the work, and especially on Saturday following the work. Doing so could result in clothes that are dingy or discolored.

To protect streams and aquatic life, AUB uses a compound called sodium thiosulfate to neutralize chlorine in the higher-than-normal volume of water that is drained from the system in a relatively short period.