Discoloured (orange/brown) water

Some frequently asked questions related to flushing are listed below. Howver if you query is not answered please call 01429 858 050

Why do you do this work?

Hartlepool Water owns and operates over 500km of water mains laid along every residential street in the town and local villages of Hart, Elwick, Greatham and Dalton Piercy. These water mains are made of various materials including polyethylene, PVC, ductile iron and cast iron. Whilst the more modern materials are virtually maintenance free, cast iron pipes produce small amounts of rusty sediments that need to be removed regularly.

Rust sediments are harmless to health but can cause unexpected discoloured water if water flows change suddenly. In general, flow changes are caused by high demand from customers, fire fighting or burst water mains.

Each year, we plan regular area flushing across the town. This involves the following:
•  We drop warning cards through all customer letterboxes the week before to warn of when we are in your area and the precautions you need to take.
•  We visit each street in an area of the town over a three day period, close various underground valves and open fire hydrants to flush the water mains at high flows removing all rusty sediments to nearby road gullies.
•  The flushing teams work to strict guidelines to ensure customers who are not warned are not affected by the works

Each area is flushed on average once every three years so if you receive a warning card from us, you are unlikely to hear from us again for some time.

What benefits does this work bring me the customer given the inconvenience?

We offer a 24 hour, 365 day a year service to ensure water is available all the time in the home and at work. This is what customers expect from us. This continuous service cannot be provided without some essential maintenance work on the water mains from time to time. Regular removal of rusty sediments by flushing reduces the risks of discoloured water if we have unplanned events, for example, a burst water main or a fire in your area. By doing this planned work, we can improve the reliability of our service by reducing the number of water quality complaints from customers receiving unexpected discoloured water

What will I see as a customer when you do this work?

Hopefully very little. Each water main in a typical street will take around 20 minutes to flush during which time there will be discoloured water if the tap is turned on in the house. We advise that customers do not use water consuming appliances at any time during the warned period to prevent the risk of damage. We also advise customers to put aside a small quantity of water for drinking should they need water at the time it might be discoloured.

We flush the mains until they are clear of sediments and then move onto the next street. You will see our flushing team opening covers in the street and opening hydrants to flush the discoloured water down the road gullies.

It is important to note that we do not need access to anyone’s house or business at any time. Always be on your guard for bogus “water board” officials.

What if I am in business and need water every day?

If your business processes depend upon a continuous supply of water, then it might be worth considering storage. Many of our larger customers have onsite storage to cater for interruptions to supply in emergencies for example. If you have specific needs, for example hairdressers, we can offer targeted warnings on the day. Our flushing team can call 30 minutes before they are to flush the local water main to help you. However, we accept no liability for damage given that the three-day warning is in place but will do all we can to minimise the inconvenience this essential works creates. Please contact us when you receive the warning card and we can discuss what steps we might be able to take to help.

I am a Careline customer registered as having special needs. What can I expect?

All Careline customers are contacted in advance either by telephone or by a personal visit to explain the works and for us to understand any special needs that they may have whilst the work is in progress. It is important that we have up to date records so that we can contact you.

Why are you wasting all of this water then there are water shortages?

Whilst it would appear that large quantities of water are flushing straight down the drain, this is the most cost effective way of removing the rusty sediments that can cause customers so much inconvenience in the home and workplace. We are careful to only flush for as long as absolutely necessary to ensure the water supplies are clear when we leave.

We also measure the amounts we flush to account for the losses. As a proportion of the daily demand used by Hartlepool customers, any three day flushing exercise will use less than 1% of the water used across the whole of Hartlepool. We take our responsibility to use water wisely seriously and do all we can to minimise the amounts used.