City describes response after tourist bus struck hydrant, causing widespread brown water

Public Works Director Joe summarized the city’s response to a July 18 brown‑water event, telling the council a tourist bus struck a dry fire hydrant on Main Street and discharged an estimated 4,500 gallons per minute for about 20 minutes. The sudden hydraulic disturbance mobilized iron and manganese deposits inside older mains, temporarily discoloring water in several neighborhoods.

"Our priority was stabilizing the water system," Joe said. Staff implemented an aggressive systemwide flushing program and said crews flushed more than 4,400,000 gallons to move suspended sediment out of the distribution system. Staff also mapped resident reports submitted through the Grapevine app to guide field operations and personally contacted nearly every person who reported a problem to verify whether corrective actions were working.

Joe told the council that, although the hydraulic change was large, the city conducted bacteriological testing even though pressure did not fall below the 5 psi regulatory trigger; those lab tests came back negative. He added the city has not quantified the total sediment mass removed because flushing is performed at high velocity and does not collect the sediment for measurement.

Council members praised the expanded communications approach — using Everbridge/Nixle alerts, the Grapevine app and follow‑up calls — and asked staff to continue outreach. City Manager McCann said staff is exploring whether credits or other compensation are appropriate for customers with ruined laundry or other documented damages and that the city is considering a claim against the bus company.

The city said system clarity has improved substantially and that isolated customer reports may still occur while deposits settle. Staff said they will continue flushing and monitoring until customer reports decline further.