(Submitted photo/City of North Battleford)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

Taps off

Water line flushing begins next week in North Battleford

May 4, 2022 | 5:00 AM

It’s time for water flushing in North Battleford

The city begins the 2022 unidirectional flushing next week, a process beginning on Monday that will likely end on Friday. This maintenance is designed to ensure that the city’s water distribution lines are operating efficiently and that quality remains optimal.

City Operations director Stewart Schafer told battlefordsNOW that the city is divided into thirds, with one section receiving the process each year. The exception is the Riverview area.

“They are on a side branch of the mains and most of the sediment settles out there,” Schafer said. “So we do that area two out of three times.”

Unidirectional flushing is done by moving water through the lines at a high velocity, creating a scouring action, before it’s discharged, removing any material buildup from the line. According to Stewart Schafer, material removed from the lines through the flushing process is harmless and requires no special treatment.

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“There’s just a lot of build up over a year or two that needs to be cleaned out,” he said.

The neighbourhoods of Killdeer Park, Fairview Heights, Riverview, Yellow Sky, Parsons Industrial Park and parts of Centennial Park will all be affected by the water main flushing. Signs on blocks reading “WATER MAIN FLUSHING” indicate affected homes by the unidirectional flushing that night. Residents can continue with regular water use until 7:00 p.m. that evening.

“The signs will be settled at the end of the block on the sidewalk or edge of the road in plain view,” Schafer said.

“City workers will be driving around at 2:00 a.m. If we flushed your block, the signs disappear by 2:15–2:30 a.m.”

In some cases, water main flushing of a block may take a few nights, in which case residents may use the water as normal from 7:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.

(submitted/Joe Gagne)

Some tips to protect homes and goods from discoloured water and sediment produced from the flushing process include:

• Do not use any taps after 7:00 pm;
• Fill your bathtub or pails before 7:00 pm for water to manually flush toilets;
• Set aside a store of water for washing hands, washing dishes and consumption;
• Turn off your water softeners, freezers or any other devices that may use water;
• Run the water from an outside tap for 10 minutes or until the water runs clear (if necessary);
• Restart your water softener, freezer and any other devices that were turned off.

“If you turn on your tap while we’re flushing and we’ve stirred up all that sediment in the line, you’re going to get the sediment in,” Schafer said. “Well this does all sorts of nasty things. Your laundry can get stained brown, filters get plugged, water heaters get damaged and [more].”

The City is not responsible for any damages caused by water tap use or toilet flushing while the unidirectional flushing is active. Once the flushing signs have been removed from their respective street, residents may return to normal water usage.

Anyone using medical equipment that requires continuous water supply can call City Hall immediately. Commercial customers that operate during the flushing hours can also contact City Hall for more information.

Residents can also subscribe Voyent Alert! to receive public notifications directly from the City. Learn more by subscribing here.

A map of the unidirectional flushing is available here.

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cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW