As businesses begin to reopen, you’re probably starting to put together a list of what you need before customers walk in the door again. One thing you don’t want to forget to do: flushing water lines.

In fact, this is such an important step for reopening that the EPA has created a checklist specifically for flushing lines.

If you have questions about why you need to flush your water system or how to do it, continue reading below.

 

Why Do I Need to Flush My Building’s Water System?

When your water supply system and drain lines go unused for a period of time, a number of things can happen to the water in the lines. If your system is connected to the municipal supply, it may take in disinfecting properties. But if the water sits still for too long, the disinfectants deplete, causing a biofilm to build up on the inside of the pipes. This biofilm is home to a multitude of microorganisms which can be a health concern.

When the water in the lines is stagnant for a long period of time, it also causes the naturally occurring protective scaling to break down. As the barrier decays, lead and other metals can leak into the supply.

When you flush your water pipes, it removes the built-up sediment at the bottom of the water main.

 

How do I Flush My Water Lines?

  1. Identify the different zones in your building. Run cold water for 30 minutes, one zone at a time.
  2. Empty out any equipment that stores water, flush it, and refill it. This includes:
    • Anything that provides drinking water, including water fountains or water coolers with direct lines
    • Boilers
    • Cooling towers
    • Humidifiers
    • Ice machines
    • Toilets
    • Water heaters
    • Water purifiers
    • Water softeners
  3. If anything has a filter (e.g.: humidifiers, ice machines), clean or replace the filters while you’re flushing that piece of equipment.
  4. After you refill the water heater, repeat the first step but with hot water.
  5. Don’t forget to disinfect plumbing fixtures. If you can, remove any aerators, and disinfect them as well.

 

What Follow-Up Steps Should I Take?

Make sure you test the quality of the water to make sure it’s safe or if you’ll need to flush everything again. You’ll want to run each faucet and flush each toilet every day until the traffic in your business returns to normal. That way you won’t have to worry about microorganism regrowth or metal re-collection.

 

Use Killeen Plumbing for Regular Maintenance to Keep Your Plumbing System Healthy

Routine maintenance directly affects the lifespan of your plumbing system. Killeen Plumbing can help your business’s water system run like clockwork for years to come. We can also flush your water lines for you while you take care of other aspects of reopening your business.

Call Killeen Plumbing today to see how we can help your commercial plumbing system run smoothly!