MN businesses are planning their re-openings after the conclusion of the statewide Stay-at-Home order.

The Minnesota Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have released guidance to ensure the safety of private water systems and devices after the prolonged shutdown.

Internal water system flushing is important maintenance that should be carried out any time a building experiences periods of little to no water usage due to shutdowns or a reduction in business activities. Flushing water lines removes older water and ensures that you have the freshest, best quality water prior to re-opening.

Flushing a water system includes flushing hot and cold water through all points (e.g. showers, sink faucets) and flushing hot water until it reaches maximum temperature. 

Full MN Department of Health guidelines can be found at https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/water/docs/com/buildowner.pdf and the CDC guidelines can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/building-water-system.html

St. Cloud is reminding area business owners to complete this system maintenance prior to re-opening their doors to maintain public health after this period of prolonged shutdown. The City will flush major commercial areas of town to make sure that when building owners flush their own buildings, they will get the freshest water possible from our water mains.

For more information on water system flushing in St. Cloud please visit the St. Cloud Public Utilities webpage at https://www.ci.stcloud.mn.us/102/Public-Utilities or contact the Drinking Water Treatment Facility at 320-255-7225.