AUB’S FALL FLUSH OF LINES THIS FRIDAY; NEW DAYTIME APPROACH

ATHENS, Tenn. – You may have read about vandals opening Athens Utilities Board (AUB) water hydrants last week, allowing water to blow off randomly around town in the middle of the night.

That activity was clearly illegal, unplanned and not part of AUB’s operations.  AUB flushes lines twice a year, but does so in a systematic fashion that is designed to properly clear the system in sequence.

This Friday is the day for an official flushing of lines, and this year the timing will be different from flushing work in the past.

AUB will flush water lines and fire hydrants throughout the city beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, October 25, weather permitting.  The work should be finished by early evening.

AUB spokesman Wayne Scarbrough said that this year’s event will get an earlier start than in the past.

“We are going to start the work at 12:30 Friday afternoon instead of the late afternoon/early evening,” he said.

Scarbrough said that the AUB team discussed and weighed the pros and cons and decided to try this slightly different approach, and they will closely monitor the event to see if it is a worthwhile change going forward.

“Doing the work from midday until early evening, mostly in full daylight, shouldn’t be much more of a traffic impact than doing it from 4 p.m. until midnight.  And we can start the work in a way to try to minimize working in high-traffic areas strategically,” he said.

Two notable advantages of doing the work earlier involve worker safety and workers’ ability to observe water clarity as they flush the system.

“Working in the full light of day versus in darkness is clearly a safety advantage, both from a visibility standpoint to drivers and from a hands-on perspective while working the hydrants.

“Moreover, crews will be able to verify after flushing a line more easily whether the water has fully cleared before closing the hydrant.  That’s more challenging to do under headlights and flashlights,” Scarbrough said.

He said that starting earlier in the day will reduce the cost of the work as well based on fewer overtime hours required, though this was not the incentive to make the schedule change.

Flushing water distribution lines is preventive maintenance that ensures clean, sediment-free water year-round.

The work to flush all hydrants will involve teams of AUB crewmembers that will begin work simultaneously at various points throughout the system.  Crews will open each hydrant on the system for several minutes, until they 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.

The effort will continue throughout the night until all hydrants have been flushed.  Work should be complete by around 9 p.m.

AUB urges area residents to keep these things in mind Friday afternoon and into the overnight hours:

• During the flushing, residents may experience times of low water pressure due to the loss of head pressure in the AUB reservoirs that supply water to the system.  Low water pressure will likely begin from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and may come and go as various areas are flushed.  A pump will run continuously at AUB’s water plant to help keep as much water in supply reservoirs as possible, but low-pressure periods in some areas during the work are likely.
• Friday afternoon and overnight when the work is finished some areas may have slightly cloudy water.  This is typical and primarily is the result of small entrained air bubbles that will dissipate with time.  Some cloudiness may be the result of sediment being washed free of the lines by the high-velocity, high-volume water circulated through the system.
• Because of the possibility of sediment in the water, area residents should avoid washing clothes during the work, and especially on Friday night following the work.  Washing during these time periods 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.

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