Customers increasingly expect that the water companies will supply high quality water at all times. There is a disturbing trend towards litigation when they fail to do this. Therefore discolored water is a high priority issue. The type and magnitude of any discoloration problem will be site specific. A method has become available to predict the occurrence of discolored water. The discolored water risk assessment strategy offers tools to solve problems in terms of water quality treatment, new design rules, and optimization of the cleaning strategy for water mains. There is a challenge ahead to convince the water companies that their money would be better spent on monitoring the level of particulates than flushing. A successful outcome of the negotiations with fire fighting authorities is absolutely critical to improve system design. RESEARCH PARTNER Kiwa Originally published by AwwaRF for its subscribers in 2003