Hydrant Flushing 10/14 and 10/15

The Oakland Water Department is performing hydrant flushing on the eastern part of the Oakland water system today and tomorrow (Alexandar Lane, Glass Drive, Southern Industrial Park, Memorial Drive) in an effort to remove discolored water from the system. The flushing itself will cause some temporary discoloration in the areas near where flushing takes place. Running cold water can help flush customer’s lines if they experience discoloration.

During emergency planning to determine if part of the Oakland Water system could be served from the County’s Mountain Lake Park system, the Oakland Water Department exercised a valve at the intersection of Dennett Road and Broadford Road on Friday, October 9. That caused an unused extension to leak and led to a rapid loss of water at the intersection. The extreme pressure changes caused scouring of buildup of the water mains near there, leading to very discolored water for some customers. Because of the severity of the discolored water that area experienced, Maryland Department of the Environment initially believed there must have been contamination during the event - dirt from outside the system entering the system - and the town issued a boil advisory in response. However, during the incident with the valve, negative pressure was not experienced - the system was pushing water out at a rapid speed but never lost pressure where outside dirt would have come back into the system. While the water customers experienced is not acceptable, MDE determined that a boil advisory was not warranted for the system after additional review because there was no evidence of infiltration and contamination that would be resolved by boiling.

While the Broadford plant is offline, flow through this part of the distribution system is also reversed and is the furthest loop from the water tower and operating plant. The town’s ability is flush the system is reduced because of the system’s decreased capacity. This limits how effectively and quickly we can remove the discoloration from the system. The flushing being performed this week will hopefully minimize further spread.

The Broadford Plant is undergoing required testing prior to being brought back online. If test results show finished water within the legal limits, that plant will return to partial service this week.