Don’t freak out about the pipes and gushing hydrants along Dilworth’s sidewalks

If you bike, walk, jog or breathe around Worthington and Tremont avenues in Dilworth, you’ve noticed the piping that extends for blocks. You’ve probably also noticed intermittent puddles, gushing fire hydrants and signs with phrases like: “FLUSHING FOR WATER QUALITY.”

Jennifer Frost, public affairs manager for Charlotte Water (our county’s water service utility), told me this is not a strange phenomenon in Charlotte, or around the nation for that matter.

Flushing can be done for a variety of reasons — when a new water line or pipe is installed, when construction is underway to fix a valve, or to get fresher water into the piping system in a particular area, since opening up a hydrant facilitates the movement of fresher water and allows the city to maintain water quality.

Ultimately, the flushing process is intended to make sure Charlotte Water keeps the quality of the water in their service area — Mecklenburg County — up to standards set by the Clean Water Act and regulated by the state drinking water program.

But in areas where flushing is occurring, Charlotte Water always puts a sign up so people know this is happening intentionally. Also, fear not — this process doesn’t cost the customer anything directly, Frost said. You won’t see the financial ramifications of a gushing hydrant on your water bill.

In Dilworth, the signs of flushing are symptoms of pipe rehabilitation and replacement projects Charlotte Water is working on in the neighborhood. As the situation generally goes, pipes here have been targeted for rehabilitation or replacement due to the material of the pipes or their age. As all projects are, this project has been prioritized according to customer complaints in water quality as well as knowledge of breaks.

Charlotte Water has a budget of $10 million for rehabilitation each year in Mecklenburg County, Frost said, and they move from neighborhood to neighborhood ranking and targeting projects.

Right now Charlotte Water is working in Wesley Heights (and has been so for years) due to a high iron concentration in the water, plus some reddish water noticed by customers. They’re implementing the flushing process in phases to make sure fresher water flows in.

Charlotte Water flushes in advance of a project, during construction and after, so it’s not uncommon for most projects to extend from one to three months.

The project in Dilworh started at the beginning of the summer. The first problem area targeted was a break around Tremont and Worthington avenues in mid-May, where the piping system is likely close to 100 years old.

Charlotte Water has also done its share of flushing/rehabilitation work in older neighborhoods like Elizabeth, Cherry, Chantilly, Wesley Heights and Wilmore. Immediate needs are prioritized first, of course.

“We’re in a constant state of rehab — everything is aging as we speak,” Frost said.

But the process will end in Dilworth eventually. Workers know they’re ready to shut off a hydrant when they sample the water to check for chlorine and measure turbidity.

Fun fact: On average, Mecklenburg County pumps out 100 million gallons of water a day during the year (and about 130 gallons during the summer when water is in higher demand for irrigation), so the water that comes out of hydrants during the flushing process is considered a tiny fraction of that.

Although, Frost conceded, “It looks really weird. We tell folks to conserve but here we are opening up a hydrant and letting it run down the street.”

To keep it all in perspective: Charlotte Water is on-call 24/7 and maintains about 4,200 miles of public water system, about 4,100 miles of wastewater system and about 16,000 public fire hydrants, with the help of 846 employees.

“Our goal is to minimize disruption in both the water service and in the neighborhood,” Frost said. “It’s temporary.”

For now, just pay attention when you’re jogging.

Photos: Katie Toussaint

This story was originally published August 24, 2016 at 1:00 AM with the headline "Don’t freak out about the pipes and gushing hydrants along Dilworth’s sidewalks."