Spring hydrant flushing helps maintain water quality

Every spring, Louisville Water’s Distribution Water Quality (DWQ) crews flush fire hydrants to help maintain our excellent water quality.

Our crews maintenance more than 24,000 fire hydrants in our service area. Flushing the hydrants also ensures proper water flow for fire fighters.

Over time, iron and other mineral deposits can build up in the hydrant.

DWQ Specialist Tim Joice said customers don’t lose water pressure or service when crews flush hydrants.

“We have hydrant flushing caps called diffusers that we place on the hydrant barrel to slow down the water flow. The water flows into the street, but typically there’s a drain nearby,” Joice said. “The diffuser allows us to direct the water and control the flow.”

This spring, DWQ crews are concentrating on hydrants in the Highlands neighborhood.

“We’ll be flushing hydrants near Baxter, Hepburn, Barrett and Highland Avenues and a small area near Lexington Road,” Joice said. “We’ll have large signs up in the neighborhood to alert customers when we are flushing.”

Joice and crews will check the water flushed from the hydrant for turbidity.

“When you flush the hydrant, it stirs up sediment deposits and air bubbles in the water, which can cause the water to appear cloudy. The cloudier the water, the higher the turbidity,” Joice said. “We’ll continue flushing the hydrant until the turbidity comes down. It could be four to five minutes of hard flushing and 10 minutes of slower flushing to get a complete flush. We’ll check for turbidity every five minutes or so during a flush.”