Starting on Monday, March 17, workers from the Chehalis Public Works Department will begin flushing the city’s fire hydrants.
They will slowly make their way throughout the city flushing hydrants, according to Chehalis Water Superintendent Todd Turner.
Hydrant flushing will be carried out weekly, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Turner announced the upcoming hydrant flushing during the Chehalis City Council meeting on Monday, March 10.
“It’s been a while since we flushed, so, it won’t be dangerous, but you’ll just want to flush your (home’s water). I would do an outside spigot for a few minutes or until it clears up,” Turner said.
If the water does not clear up within a few minutes, residents are asked to call the Chehalis Public Works Department at 360-748-0238.
While the city’s water mains are flushed annually, the last time the Chehalis hydrants were flushed was 2014, according to Chehalis City Manager Stacy Denham.
“Theoretically, (hydrants) should be flushed annually. So we’re going to run into a few snags along the way,” Denham said. “There might be some valves that are breaking, maybe a couple pipes that might break. So there might be some inconveniences to the city and to our community. However, it’s better to find them when there’s not an emergency.”
Turner added the city has “around 700 total” fire hydrants, and while all of them won’t be flushed, the majority will be.
Two crews, one for north Chehalis and one for the south part of the city, will carry out the flushing.
“We have a skeleton crew, basically,” Turner said.
While the dates are tentative as crews may be kept longer in one area should repairs be needed, hydrant flushing schedules for both the north and south sides of Chehalis are available on the city’s website at https://tinyurl.com/mrx2mnsf.
According to the tentative schedules, the hydrant flushing process might not be completed until May in some areas.
During hydrant flushing, motorists driving through the area are asked to exercise caution both around city workers and any standing water that may be on the streets.
For more information on the upcoming hydrant flushing in Chehalis, call Turner at 360-345-1226.
