On the evenings of Tuesday, March 27 and Thursday, March 29, Eastsound Water will be conducting wide-ranging water main flushing. Water main flushing is a best practice for water system maintenance. The primary goal of the program is to “test” each of 20 fire hydrants that serve the Eastsound Village Core. The secondary goal is to protect water quality by removing any mineral particles that may have settled in the water mains.
On Tuesday evening (starting at 7:30), fire hydrants in front of Washington Federal, St. Francis Church, Buck Park, and Crescent Beach will be used for flushing. This is to “clear” the water mains bringing water into town. Water service in the village core will be isolated from these flushing events. No one in the village core is likely to experience cloudy water during Tuesday evening’s activity. It is possible that cloudy water may be noticed by others on the immediate outskirts of town during the Tuesday evening flushing as water flow in the water mains will jump from 20 to over 500 gallons per minute.
On Thursday evening (starting at 7:30), teams will be doing a “speed flushing” opening the village core hydrants for 3 minutes each. Two teams will be working simultaneously, and multiple hydrants will be “in action” at once. Cloudy water is possible and it is best to avoid using water between 7:30 and 10:00 p.m. Several Fire hydrants will have “trickle flushing rigs” running overnight to ensure that before dawn any cloudy water has been flushed from the system.
Over 50,000 gal of water will be used as part of this water quality and public safety initiative. Much of the water will go through the stormwater system. Staff will be monitoring a dechlorinating system to ensure that no chlorine is discharged into Fishing Bay.
A-frame signs will be posted at the town entries reminding folks of these upcoming events.
