A fix for the Bench’s brown water is here — for now. Want a lasting one? You’ll have to wait.

On one hand, Boise’s Bench neighborhood is charming due to its age. On the other, you sometimes get water that looks like highly diluted Diet Coke out of your faucet.

And, on those nights, you pass on your child’s bath time.

David Hurley has lived on the Bench for two years and distinctly remembers filling the tub for his daughter’s bath a couple years back. He came back into the bathroom and, to his shock, the bath was filled with brown water. No matter how many times he flushed it and refilled it, the water remained murky.

“So, we had to skip a bath at night,” Hurley told the Statesman in a Facebook message.

Discolored water has been a problem on the Bench for several years, according to Suez Water spokeswoman Jane Kreller. The Bench neighborhood first hit prominence and growth in the late 1920s and early 1930s; its water system was made mainly of metal and concrete pipes, which in turn can lead to discolored water.

Kreller said the water is still safe to drink and use.

The solution, at the moment, isn’t anything near permanent. Instead, it is to, essentially, power flush the pipes with water until the water is clean.

Flushing on Boise’s Bench

Flushing has happened for years in Boise, as it does in nearly every city. But a new type of flushing specifically for the Bench, known as unidirectional flushing, started a year ago and will happen twice a year going forward.

That’s because, for better or worse, a new piping system isn’t going to happen overnight.

“I don’t think the unidirectional flushing is going anywhere. The Boise Bench is always going to need a lot of TLC. And that’s just part of the charm of living in the area,” Kreller said. “You will have to really take care of the infrastructure and give it a little extra love.”

Why is the water brown?

In simplest terms, it’s due to old piping. Piping in the Bench was put down as early as the 1930s. As one of the older neighborhoods in Boise, the Bench has outdated infrastructure. While pipes have been made of plastic over the last few decades, earlier systems were made of metal and concrete. Brown water is the product of iron from the metal pipes breaking down and mixing with the water.

Two percent of the piping on the Bench was laid down prior to 1940; 49 percent was put in from 1940 to 1980, and the other 49 percent was placed after 1980, according to data from Suez. Twenty percent of the piping on the Bench is made of metal.

Metal pipes are a double-edged sword. On one end, the infrastructure is extremely sturdy and not prone to leaks; on the other end, discolored water will happen.

“It is pretty inconvenient and disgusting, and it’s a shame there’s nothing that can be done about it without a rather large expense,” Hurley said.

Discolored water is not uncommon. However, the problem is compounded on the Bench due to the old pipes and the fact that many of the water mains end in dead ends. The water sits there as sediment gathers.

Is the water safe?

Yes, the water is safe, but Kreller understands your hesitation to drink or bathe in it. It’s not particularly appetizing.

“I wouldn’t want to drink it,” Kreller said. “Honestly, when people send us pictures on Facebook or email and say, ‘Well what about this?’ You’re right. I wouldn’t want to drink that, either.”

Iron that discolors water is not a health hazard, according to the American Water Works Association. Water in the area meets all EPA requirements, per data from Suez.

Regardless of whether science calls the water safe, Hurley has no interest in finding out whether it’s true or not.

“I definitely don’t drink it, because it’s brown water,” he said. “They try to say it’s safe, but I have a hard time buying into that.”

How is this flushing different?

The majority of, if not all, water systems around the country get flushed at some point during the year. Boise’s are no exception, as there is an annual flush every April, and it has been that way for decades, Kreller said.

In a normal flush, hydrants are opened and, essentially, run until water clears. The flush is not as pressurized, Kreller said, and is subsequently slower. No water mains are shut down in this process.

On the Bench, however, the process is different. Last April, Suez began doing unidirectional flushing. In this process, water is pushed in a single direction at a specific time for a specific time. Certain areas are closed off, Kreller said, and highly pressurized water is shot through the pipes. The process requires detailed mapping and collaboration among multiple Suez workers, who are in constant communication with one another via radio and text message.

Because it is so specific in location and duration, unidirectional flushing uses just half the water normal flushing does, according to Kreller.

“We did it last year, and we noticed that the discolored water calls decreased dramatically afterward,” Kreller said.

The data backs up Kreller’s claim.

From April 2016 through January 2019, a total of 306 calls were made to Suez regarding discolored water from Bench residents. That number tends to rise in April, as the annual flushing naturally causes discoloration. After last year’s unidirectional flushing, however, call volume in May dropped by 85 percent from the prior month when flushing took place, per Suez data.

One drawback? Over the next two weeks while the unidirectional flushing takes place, customers may see increased discolored water. If that is the case, turn on the cold water and let it flush until the discoloration stops.

Suez will compensate you for the water wasted if contacted, Kreller said. Suez can be reached at 208-362-7304 or at suezidcustserv@suez-na.com.

Is this a permanent solution?

Amy Howe remembers waking up at 4:30 a.m., pouring herself a cup of coffee and filling her bathtub with water.

In a Facebook message, Howe, who lives in the Central Pointe Apartments, told the Statesman she suffers from chronic pain due to fibromyalgia. She began drinking her cup of coffee and was about to step into the bath — until she saw the water. Its color caused her to throw out her coffee.

Howe referred to the incident as the “spring flushing.”

“I just unplugged the tub and ran the cold water for approximately 45 minutes before it began to run clean again,” she said. “Of course, I then had to clean my tub because there was sand ringing the bottom of my tub.”

Kreller will be the first to acknowledge that unidirectional flushing is not the final answer; it will, however, happen in the spring and fall going forward. And people on the Bench can expect that to be the case for a while.

A permanent solution to the discolored water would be entirely new piping on the Bench. Though the final budget is still being decided, Kreller said Suez is planning to introduce new piping sometime next year. Unfortunately, the entire process could take several years, as installing pipes is invasive and requires closing down streets and digging up roads.

“I wish I could say, “This year, we’ll replace all of the metallic mains and we will never have discolored water again,’ ” Kreller said. “If we could make this an overnight situation, we would. Because I talk to a lot of people every week who are frustrated.”

This story was originally published May 2, 2019 at 3:17 PM.