Fire Hydrant Flushing This Week in Martin, Lavonia

Fire departments and water employees  in a couple of local communities will be flushing fire hydrants later this week.

In the Town of Martin, city water workers will be flushing fire hydrants beginning today through Saturday as part of their Corrosion Control Program mandated by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.

In Lavonia, Lavonia City firefighters will be out from Saturday through Monday conducting water tests on fire hydrants.

Lavonia City manager Gary Fesperman said the hydrant flushing testing is part of a series of water hydrant tests done a couple of times each year.

“The City flushes hydrants twice a year; one time through the fire department to give them an opportunity to find which hydrants are operating properly and which ones are not,” he said. “The other time is when the City does it and we usually do it in the fall of the year.”

Fesperman said the primary goal for both hydrant flushings is to test the hydrants and check for problems.

“The reason we do this is to make sure all of our fire hydrants are operational,” Fesperman said. “The reason the water department does it is to check pressures and to clear out any debris that may  have gotten in there and affected the flow of the system.”

During the hydrant testing, water customers might see a drop in water pressure for a short time.  Afterwards, Fesperman said customers might also see some discoloration in their tap water.

“Once this happens, you could see a little discoloration of the water because the testing could stir up a little sediment,” he said. “If this doesn’t go away in a day or two please let us know so we can get in there and flush that water line out.”

During the hydrant flushing, motorists are advised to slow down due to wet roads and temporary puddling that could cause vehicles to hydroplane.