All Germantown customers can flush water, resume use

GERMANTOWN, Tenn. (WMC) - All Germantown residents have been cleared to resume normal use of their water after flushing their system.

Residents are urged to flush their system once cleared to do so before consuming water.

If you have not detected a smell of diesel in your water, you should open your faucets and let them run for five minutes.

If you have detected an odor at any point, you should follow a lengthier process. Here’s how you can do that:

1. Open a couple of cold water taps and run for 15 minutes to clear the customer service line from main.
2. Open each cold tap one at a time and run that for 5 min to clean that specific line. Begin nearest to where water enters the building and move toward the farthest tap. Repeat for the rest of the cold taps.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 but instead running hot water through the taps. To flush your water heater, fill a bathtub and drain twice.
4. Any dishes or clothing washed while the restriction was in place should be rewashed.
5. Water-using devices may require additional cleaning steps in addition to flushing (e.g., discarding ice). Consult the device manufacturer’s maintenance instructions.

Customers should expect to see some sediment or discoloration from their taps due to extensive flushing of city water mains over the past few days. City leaders say this is not a cause for concern, as there is sediment in all water systems and it will settle as usage returns to normal.

The water testing results that led to the “do not contact” order” being lifted for Germantown water customers are being shared here.

These test results provided to the City of Germantown and the Shelby County Health Department by the TDEC show that clean water is being distributed into the city’s water system from the point source, the Southern Avenue water treatment plant’s underground reservoirs, and elevated tower.

These results provide clear water samples from the following:

• The water from the top surface and bottom of the elevated tower across from the Southern Avenue water treatment plant (ECV tank surface; bottom of elevated tank)
• The water from different locations in the underground reservoirs (CW5A - Clearwell; CW6 - Ttap @ water plant; CW01 - HCL; CW01 - Non HCL; CW01)
• A breakdown of the constituents in the water in the underground reservoirs

All samples were independently tested by a third-party testing company. The names of private sector and city employees have been redacted.

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