What is System Flushing?

Flushing is a type of preventative maintenance Livermore Municipal Water uses to protect your water quality. When water mains have low flow rates, it can cause water to remain in the pipe for too long. This can lead to sediment, rust, and bacteria building up on the inside of the pipe.

Flushing prevents this from happening by cleaning the water main with high-velocity blasts of water. Flushing scours the inside of the pipe - removing sediment, replacing any aged water, and reducing any taste or odor issues. Livermore Municipal Water uses two types of flushing techniques - dead-end and unidirectional.

Dead-End Flushing

Dead-end flushing targets specific water mains that dead-end because they have lower flow rates, which can lead to aged water. The water used for dead-end flushing is discharged into sewer mains so it can be treated at the Livermore Water Reclamation Plant and used as recycled water for irrigation and fire protection.

Unidirectional Flushing

Unidirectional flushing is used for flushing larger areas. This method involves closing valves and opening fire hydrants in a specific sequence to create water movement in one direction. This creates higher flow velocities by isolating certain sections of water mains. The higher the water velocity, the better pipes can be cleaned.

Since greater water volumes and velocities are used in unidirectional flushing, the flushing water cannot be discharged into sewer mains. Instead, the flushing water is dechlorinated and channeled into storm drains, which lead to natural bodies of water. Livermore Municipal Water works to minimize silt and debris from entering storm drains during this process to protect wildlife and sensitive species.

Free viewers are required for some of the attached documents.
They can be downloaded by clicking on the icons below.

Acrobat Reader Windows Media Player Word Viewer Excel Viewer PowerPoint Viewer