Tomorrow, residences of Washington might start noticing a bit more of a chlorine taste or smell in their water. The state requires regular yearly maintenance for the city’s water supply and it will start tomorrow and continue until May 26.

During the nearly month-long treatment, the city will be feeding free chlorine into the water to filtrate the system.

The flush is not harmful to pets or humans, but according to Director of Public Works Allen Lewis, it will just be annoying. Lewis also added that people might be taste sensitive to it for the first week or two.

The State of North Carolina requires all water systems that regularly add ammonia to a system in order to cleanse it, annually switch to chlorine-only to flush the system.

Some town and city officials across the state have told customers to check the water before washing white clothes, and if it is discolored, all household faucets should be run for a few minutes.

“If you are real sensitive to the taste, drink bottled water,” Lewis said. “But there is no harm.”

Lewis noted that most of the water in Washington is not consumed, but used more for washing and cleaning.

“Chlorine is a strong disinfectant,” Lewis said. “We will flush the lines at the fire hydrants to get the chlorine out of the lines.”

The Town of Cary flushed its water system earlier this spring and have been doing it since 1993 and did not run into any problems according to Water Distribution System Operator Bobby Fann.

Washington concludes its water system cleaning May 26 when the city flushes the fire hydrants. The flush will happen during non-peak hours so it does not interrupt or slow service.

“We don’t want to affect people’s water pressure during the day, so that is why we’ll be flushing the hydrants between midnight and 1 a.m.,” Lewis said.