The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities will begin spring daytime water main flushing in early May, weather-permitting.

Pre-flushing in Falconer will start at 1 p.m. Friday in the areas of Ralph, Valmeere, Mapleshade and Aldren. The complete village of Falconer will be flushed from 8 p.m. Saturday, May 4, overnight into Sunday, May 5, until Falconer is entirely flushed.

During Falconer flushing, water may be discolored on the north side of Jamestown as well as in the village.

Flushing of the rest of the BPU Water Division system will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, May 6-10; and Monday through Wednesday, May 13-15. The exception will be on Wednesday, May 8, when flushing will take place from 5:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. to accommodate downtown Jamestown restaurants and businesses. Flushing that day could affect streets directly off Fairmount Avenue and Route 394, even though their streets are not flushed that day.

Flushing can discolor water, especially when water line cleaning takes place in the customers’ immediate areas near their scheduled flushing days. Customers may see discolored water at any time during flushing, even on days other than their scheduled flushing days.

The BPU’s March and April newsletters contain a two-page color-coded map section showing which areas will be flushed on which days. The maps also are posted on www.jamestownbpu.com and were in The Post-Journal on April 28 and will appear again May 5.

The BPU website, Facebook and Twitter pages will show daily flushing locations.

The BPU also informed commercial and industrial customers of their flushing dates by automatic calls a month before flushing. Residential customers, whose phone numbers are current on their accounts, can expect to receive such calls two-three days in advance of their flushing days.

Customers with questions about flushing and their flushing dates may call the Flushing Hotline at 661-1688 or Communications at 661-1680.

“If you receive voicemail when calling, please leave your address, the names of the streets at the end of your block and your phone number,” said Becky Robbins, BPU communications coordinator. “BPU employees will return calls with flushing location dates and with answers to any questions.”

The main precaution that customers may take during water main flushing is to check for discolored water before doing laundry and to avoid pulling water into your hot water tank. The BPU also suggests putting aside water for cooking or drinking a day or so ahead of their flushing days because the discolored water is unappetizing in appearance.

Should discolored water enter the household, it can be expected to clear in 12 to 24 hours.

The BPU provides a free commercial rust/iron stain remover for laundry, at no cost to water customers at the BPU Customer Service Office, 92 Steele St., and at town and village offices in Busti, Celoron, Ellicott, Falconer and Lakewood.

If laundry is washed by mistake in discolored water, do not dry the clothes; instead, rewash the laundry in the stain remover before drying.

It is generally safe to use and flush the toilet during flushing, even on a scheduled flushing day. Those who flush their toilet and see discolored water should continue to use and flush their toilet throughout the day as needed. Once the water settles in the main, which may take some time, clear water eventually will be drawn into your household plumbing again and the discolored water will clear from the toilet.

The BPU flushes water lines twice a year to remove sediment that may gather in pipes. As flushing occurs, employees also check on the condition of the hydrant and can fix any problems that they may find. Water main flushing is a normal process used in other communities throughout the state. The BPU prefers cleaning the lines by flushing instead of putting chemicals in the water to do so.