City Water crews will start our annual fire hydrant flushing program tonight, Sunday, May 5, during overnight hours.
Crews expect to finish this year’s flushing within about two weeks. Crews are flushing hydrants overnight, Sunday through Thursday, between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Neighbors can follow along with our real-time progress on our website, battlecreekmi.gov. Check out the City Spotlight section at the bottom of the home page. Staff will update the website daily with maps of actual progress from the night before, and proposed progress for the next night. You can generally expect to see our crews move through the city in this order:
- Phase 1 – East-central part of the city, from Roosevelt Avenue south to Michigan Avenue, and Division/Fremont streets east to the neighborhoods east of Raymond Road, to about McAllister Road. (gray-blue section of the attached map with yellow Phase 1 labels)
- Phase 2 – Central Business District/downtown, west of Phase 1 to Limit Street, then north to Morgan Road, and south to Columbia Avenue. (gray-blue section on the map with green Phase 2 labels)
- Phase 3 – Urbandale, west of Phase 2 almost to Collier Avenue, and from Harmonia Road/City of Springfield to just north of Morgan Road (gray-blue section on the map with orange Phase 3 labels; City of Springfield is not part of our hydrant flushing)
- Phase 4 – Fort Custer Industrial Park area northwest of Springfield, south along Hill Brady Road and Skyline Drive, from the south border of Springfield to around Columbia Avenue, and southwest to I-94, plus the Numbered Streets area. (rust section on the map with blue Phase 4 labels)
- Phase 5 – South of Columbia Avenue to Beckley Road, and further south around Capital Avenue SW and M-66, east to and north/south on Beadle Lake Road (rust section on the map with white Phase 5 labels)
- Phase 6 – Gethings, Beadle Lake, and Emmett areas – a square area around Gethings and Stone Jug roads, streets between Columbia and Golden avenues east of M-66, and south on Beadle Lake Road past I-94; east on Michigan Avenue from Pine Knoll to around Ackerson (east of 11 Mile). (green, purple, and yellow sections on the map with gray Phase 6 labels)
The flushing process often results in cloudy or discolored water; please be mindful of this while doing laundry or other tasks that could be affected. We do what we can to limit this, and the water always is safe during the process.
Discolored or rusty water may be present in the area where crews are flushing, as well as in neighboring areas. If you see discolored water from your taps, we recommend that you run the cold water in your home or business.
You might see water pressure changes while we flush, but those should be brief. We do not shut off water during this process, and boil water advisories are not necessary. If you do lose water pressure for a long period, or completely, check your aerators first. If the problem continues, please call us at 269-966-3506, option 2. After 4 p.m. or on weekends you can reach water crews at 269-966-3493.
Flushing hydrants and water mains provides several benefits to our water system users. Regular flushing provides water of the highest quality to our customers. It also allows our crews to verify that our water system is operating properly, and identify areas that require repair and/or maintenance. It also ensures that fire hydrants are ready for use should the Fire Department need them.