Resolved: Are You Experiencing Discolored Water? Water Remains Safe to Drink, and One Easy Step Will Help
- September 17, 2026 | Category: Alert, Customer Service, Your Water
UPDATE – September 17, 2026 @ 4:00 p.m. – Our crews have finished flushing activies in our system and the issue should be resolved. Discolored water may remain in the private lines of customers in the affected area, and any customers experiencing the issue can flush their lines by letting their faucet run until the water runs clear.
On September 17, 2026, customers in a small area of our system (a small area of northwest Medford) began reporting discolored water following planned flow testing conducted at the Robert A. Duff Water Treatment Plant. The water remains safe to drink and the safety of the water we provide has not degraded during this event. Medford Water maintains a chlorine residual in all water mains per drinking water guidelines, and testing has shown the chlorine residual has remained at normal levels.
Our staff is actively flushing hydrants in impacted areas to flush discolored water out of the system, which is caused by sediment stirred up in waterlines as a result of higher water flow during the flow test. Any customer experiencing this issue can open their faucet and flush their water lines until the water runs clear.
Please call us at (541) 774-2430 if you have any questions or concerns. Any additional information and updates on this event will be available on our Alerts & Outages page.