What should a water system do to ensure safety after repairs or installations?

To ensure safety after repairs or installations, chlorinating the water line is essential. This process involves adding chlorine to the water system to disinfect it and kill any potentially harmful bacteria or pathogens that may have entered the system during maintenance activities. Chlorination helps to ensure that the water remains safe for consumption and meets public health standards.

This method is particularly important because construction or repair work can introduce contaminants into the water lines, making it critical to treat the system before returning to regular service. Following chlorination, it is standard practice to test the water for chlorine residual levels and bacteriological quality before allowing the system to be used again.

While performing a pressure test is also a valuable step in the repair process to check for leaks, it does not address microbial safety. Skipping inspections would be unsafe and counterproductive, and merely increasing water flow does not ensure that the water is free from contaminants. Thus, chlorinating the water line is the appropriate action to protect public health after maintenance work has been completed.