Hydrant Flushing

Only authorized personnel should operate a fire hydrant. If someone does not know what they are doing, he/she can injure a person that is working on a repair at a nearby location or can damage the hydrant or the line itself. The City of Irving will only flush fire hydrants if it is necessary to meet health and safety standards under the following circumstances:

1. The city is mandated by TCEQ to flush known dead-end mains once a month.

2. The city flushes when homeowners are complaining of air in the lines or color or odor issues to ensure fresh, potable water is delivered to Irving water customers.

3. The city has to flush a main after a repair is made in order to remove air, debris or sediment from the line that may have entered during the repair.

4. The city must flush fire hydrants on new water main installations prior to TCEQ bacteriological sampling that is required prior to activating a new water line.

fire hydrant flushing

5. The city must flush hydrants in order to maintain chlorine residual requirements mandated by the state of Texas. This happens more often in areas of the city that have lower water demand/usage.6. Sometimes it is necessary to flush while repairs are being made to relieve pressure on the main.

7. In order to make a repair, it is sometimes necessary to dewater a main and that is done either by flushing or using a drain valve.

8. As the distribution system infrastructure ages, it becomes necessary to flush more often to maintain water quality.

9. The Fire Department flushes every hydrant at least once each year to ensure that all hydrants are operational.