Manitowoc Public Utilities (MPU) will begin unidirectional flushing (UDF) the week of April 10th. This important maintenance occurs annually in different areas of the community. Why do we do it? UDF is a method used to clean and improve the carrying capacity of our water distribution system. This cleaning method helps us continue to provide safe, high-quality drinking water to our customers. The water distribution system is set up in a grid-like pattern, which allows water to be fed from several directions at the same time. When performing UDF, staff open and close pre-determined valves in order to isolate a specific section of water main. This section of main is then flushed by opening a specifically-selected fire hydrant that will draw water through the now-isolated section of water main. Since the water main is isolated and is only being fed from one direction (hence the term ‘unidirectional’), the speed of the water flowing through the isolated section of main is greatly increased, producing a scouring effect. The scouring effect removes any potential sediment build-up and cleans the water main.
Notification flyers will be sent to addresses that are within the neighborhoods where UDF will be performed. Our crews will also place notification signs in the terraces of commonly traveled streets within the vicinity of where flushing will take place that day. For more information, or to see a map of the flushing zones for this year, please visit our website at www.mpu.org.