HILLSBOROUGH — Hillsborough personnel will flush and perform basic maintenance to the fire hydrants in the Hillsborough Water System in March.
“Our flushing operations typically use about 6 million gallons of water from our system, which is about five days of supply at our current usage levels,” Utilities Director Kenny Keel said. “Flushing of the system is great insurance to maintain good water quality.”
The town’s water supplies currently are full, with approximately 365 days of water supply remaining.
Hillsborough’s inspections and maintenance of hydrants likely will take one month. Town staff will open each hydrant to flush the water system, will lubricate hydrants and will identify any follow-up repair needs. During the process, town personnel may be required to trim plantings or remove other items to ensure that adequate access to the hydrants exists during emergencies and for maintenance.
Citizens may be asked to relocate plants and other items in street rights-of-way where necessary to allow a clear area 3 feet wide around a hydrant. Even if a citizen does not receive a request to remove an item near a hydrant, the town encourages everyone with a hydrant in the adjacent street right-of-way and property owners with private fire hydrants to ensure that hydrants are accessible.
Opening the hydrants might cause some temporary cloudiness or discoloration of water. Discoloration can occur because small particles of iron and manganese that have settled in a water main may be stirred up. The discoloration does not make water unsafe to drink, but it could discolor fabric. Similarly, when air bubbles enter the water system during the hydrant flushing, they may cause cloudiness in drinking water.
If discoloration or air bubbles appear in the water, customers should run cold water in a bathtub for a few minutes until the water and/or air bubbles clear. If the water does not clear within five minutes, contact the town at 732-2104 during normal business hours or at 732-3621 for emergencies during nights and weekends.
