The quality of drinking water in Moscow has to be maintained, and as a way to do that the city performs fire hydrant flushing every six months, according to Kurt Schwendiman, water distribution lead operator for the city.
The flushing helps to minimize the amount of red — or dirty — water in the system, which is caused by the high iron and manganese content found in the well water being mixed with the chlorine that is added when the water goes through the system, he said.
This red water can be taken out of the system with proper flushing.
“We flush the system to provide better quality water,” Schwendiman said.
To minimize how flushing the hydrants affected the public, it was done every night from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. between Oct. 28 and Nov. 1.
The flushing usually happens earlier in the year, but it was delayed because well nine for the city failed this summer, decreasing the amount of water that was available for irrigation, the city said in a press release.
Schwendiman said they usually try to flush the hydrants before the leaves start to fall, as they can clog up the sewer systems.
Allison Griffith can be reached at [email protected]