Fort Worth

Water Pouring from Hydrants in North Fort Worth

The city of Fort Worth has been flushing out its water in northern neighborhoods for several days.

The city of Fort Worth has been flushing out its water in northern neighborhoods for several days.

According to the water district, the water needs to flow in order to raise the levels of chlorine, which kills bacteria in the system. The levels drop when the water sits unused for too long. The district has found that its northern customers have been using less water than other areas, and while good for conservation, it has led to this problem.

"It's a Catch-22 isn't it?" said John Carman, director of the water district.

Fire hydrants near Harriet Creek Drive and Double Eagle Parkway have been pumping out the water continuously since Wednesday.

Each day, the district tests the levels. Federal standards require .05-4.0 milligrams of chlorine per liter of water. Fort Worth tries to maintain 2.0 milligrams, but recently they found it dipped to 1.0 in northern neighborhoods.

"We build a system that's big enough to water all the lawns in Fort Worth area in August, and that means that now there's very little water going through the system," explained Carman. "The flip side of that is we tend to lose some of the chlorine residual because it sits in the system too long."

But residents in the impacted neighborhoods have different concerns.

"It's usually full blast, going halfway out into the middle of this street into the roads," said Tiffany Horman, who lives across from one of the hydrants.

This is the second time the city has had to flush water around her neighborhood at Saddlewood Drive. She's worried there is a bigger issue with the system overall.

"It's strange," said Horman. "I have a lot of unanswered questions."

According to the district, the chlorine levels are currently safe. Carman said the flushing is a preventative measure. The hydrants will be shut off Saturday.

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