Mobile Area Water and Sewer System crews plan to bring a set of newly installed water transmission lines online Tuesday morning, a project engineers say will boost water service reliability for downtown Mobile and the City of Prichard. Utility officials are warning nearby residents that the work carries a slim chance of temporary water discoloration as the system adjusts.
The project involved converting an existing 48-inch raw water line into a potable water main and installing a new 30-inch line along Owens Street. Together, the upgrades are designed to reduce water age in the pipes and add capacity for downtown customers as well as the interconnections that supply Prichard, according to utility officials familiar with the project.
Bringing new transmission infrastructure online can shift the direction and speed of water flow through the surrounding distribution network. That shift can stir up sediment that has settled in older pipes over time, which is the source of the discoloration risk crews are flagging ahead of the switch-over.
To minimize the chances of discolored water reaching customers, crews will flush fire hydrants near Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Brazier Drive before the new lines are put into service. The area considered most likely to see any effects sits east of the Interstate 65 beltline, south of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, and north of both Moffett Road and Springhill Avenue.
Residents within that zone who notice discolored tap water are advised to hold off on doing laundry, since washing clothes in affected water can cause staining that is difficult to remove. Running cold water taps for a few minutes typically clears residual sediment from household pipes once the utility’s own flushing is complete.
Customers who experience discolored water are asked to contact MAWSS directly at 694-3165 to report the issue so crews can respond if additional flushing is needed in a specific area.
Water age and capacity upgrades like this one are a routine but important part of maintaining service reliability in older sections of the water system, particularly in areas like downtown Mobile and Prichard where transmission infrastructure has been in place for decades. Utility officials say the investment is intended to support both current demand and future growth along the corridor.