Napa town famous for wine and restaurants takes drastic action to fix dirty tap water

The wealthy Wine Country town of St. Helena may finally be solving its decadeslong brown water problem, although the taps may run even dirtier before it’s over.

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The city of St. Helena, home to Michelin-rated restaurants and some of Napa’s oldest wineries, started flushing 40 miles of water mains this week to address the persistent brown tap water following years of complaints from residents and businesses. 

St. Helena Public Works Department and contractor Hydrologics began the citywide project on Monday between Zinfandel Lane and Chaix Lane, a a city webpage for the project said. Andrew Bradley, a city spokesperson, confirmed to SFGATE that the city plans to flush out 1 to 1.5 miles of pipes per day and complete the project within 45 to 50 days. The St. Helena City Council approved more than $885,000 for the flushing project earlier this month. 

St. Helena water mains will be cleaned using zero discharge flushing, which uses high-velocity water flow to clean sediment and biofilm from the pipe interior. The city is telling residents to avoid using water when the flushing happens in their neighborhood. Maps of the flushing areas will be posted on the city website 1 to 2 days prior to flushing work. The city recommends that locals then run an outdoor hose to help clear discolored water after flushing hours.

“[Zero discharge flushing] may temporarily increase water discoloration while work is underway,” the city website said. “Limiting water use during this time helps reduce the potential for discolored water to enter your home’s plumbing.” 

The massive cleaning operation follows years of local complaints about persistent brown water that worsened in July after a bus crashed into a fire hydrant. At the time, the city advised locals not to drink brown tap water while it searched for solutions. Patrice Viera, a general manager at Inn St. Helena, told SFGATE in September that the hotel bathtubs and bed linens had deep-set stains from brown tap water; meanwhile, Ray Ray’s Tacos owner Rachel Williams told SFGATE that same month that her restaurant was offering bottled water in lieu of serving customers tap water. 

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“It’s a luxury area that people are visiting, and when you … have to tell people my tap is brown, that’s embarrassing because it’s not my fault,” Williams previously told SFGATE. “It’s something you have to explain to guests.”

The city has made various attempts to solve the problem in the past. Bradley told SFGATE last month that the city of St. Helena had recently used high-velocity cleaning on 7 of the city’s 45 miles of underground water pipes. He added that 3,000 feet of pipelines had been replaced within the past two years. The city also recently replaced pipes underneath Oak Avenue and plans to replace pipes under a section of Spring Street this week as part of the city’s Capital Improvement Project, Bradley told SFGATE. 

Bradley could not answer when the city’s brown water will be cleared, only sharing that the city will continue to evaluate and test the system after the pipe cleaning process.