(WSB photo)

That sighting of brown water flushing from a hydrant is what tipped us to a water outage in Gatewood. We were out walking when we spotted a Seattle Public Utilities worker flushing the hydrant at 39th/Rose [map]; he told us they were clearing the water from a “branch” before restoring service following a break further east on Rose. The SPU water-trouble map says 40+ homes were affected by the break centered near 35th/Rose; we walked past the hydrant again about half an hour after taking the top photo, and the water was running clear.