Why does Passaic Valley Water Commission flush water mains?
Flushing is done to clean out our water pipelines by removing rust or sediment that may be present in the pipe. Rust, mostly iron and manganese, builds up all year and is deposited on the inside of our water mains. These minerals are harmless, but as more and more people start watering their lawns and turning on sprinkler systems, these minerals can become loose and end up in your water supply. Our flushing program takes care of this problem in a few minutes, but can also create some problems for you, our customer. If you are running water when we are flushing, you could get some dirty water. If this does happen, you should not run your hot water or do any laundry. Turn on and run your cold water until the dirty water clears out of your pipes, then flush your hot water tank by opening the valve at the bottom of the tank. If you are doing laundry, do not dry these clothes. Washing these items again will normally take care of this problem, but if this procedure does not solve the problem
