Santa Clara County Reopening: Businesses Urged To Flush Out Water Pipes

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SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- San Jose Water is reminding businesses and other properties preparing to reopen as novel coronavirus restrictions ease of the importance of first flushing water pipes.

"Water that sits inside a building's pipes for long periods of time can become stagnant and may become discolored or cause unwanted contaminants to leach from a building's pipe materials," said Francois Rodigari, the agency's director of water quality. "Bacteria may also grow in the stagnant water. This is why flushing the water within the pipes is highly recommended before resuming use."

Flushing should be done at each point of use—showers, all sink faucets, ice machines, drinking water fountains and coolers—by letting the water run for about 10 minutes from both the hot and cold taps.

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"Flush until the hot water reaches its maximum temperature and flush the cold water until it reaches a steady cool temperature," the utility advised. "The purpose of the flushing is to replace all water inside the building's piping with fresh water from the water main."

Any filters that are used should be replaced and ice in appliances should be discarded.

For more details, people can visit sjwater.com/customer-carehelp-information/preparing-your-building-reopening-after-covid-19-shutdown

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