Maynard Gardner, a Capital Region Water employee, flushes a fire hydrant Monday morning in Reservoir Park.
Harrisburg’s water and sewer authority has begun flushing fire hydrants in the city and in other townships in the authority’s service area, as part of an annual procedure to check water pressure, look for leaks and clear dormant lines of mineral buildup.
Workers will flush all of Capital Region Water’s 1,600 hydrants over a six- to eight-week period, beginning with those closest to the city’s reservoirs and proceeding outward through the system.
The procedure can stir up debris in the pipes, meaning customers may see discolored, brownish-orange water coming from their faucets while the authority flushes hydrants near them.
The discoloration is not harmful and should clear up after affected customers run their faucets for a couple of minutes, an authority spokesman said.
The city flushes the hydrants every year, although it skipped the procedure last year because workers were overextended addressing a billing problem caused by failing batteries in water meters, the spokesman said.
Maynard Gardner, a Capital Region Water employee, demonstrated the flushing procedure Monday morning at a hydrant in Reservoir Park, checking the pressure and taking a sample of the gushing water with a small glass jar.
The water came out clear, but hydrants in areas further from the reservoirs, like Kline Village, tend to be noticeably discolored and can take up to 45 minutes to flush, Gardner said.
The procedure, which improves drinking water quality by clearing lines of stagnant water, also allows the authority to alert firefighters of hydrants that aren’t working properly. The authority covers failing hydrants with orange bags, schedules them for repairs and reports them to emergency dispatchers at Dauphin County.
