Warning to all River House residents: don’t do your laundry tomorrow between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., or all of your whites may turn a lovely rust color. The FMO Fire Group will be performing the annual check of Harvard’s fire hydrants tomorrow evening, and in doing so they may knock some of the silt at the bottom of sedentary pipes back into the river houses’ waterways.

The silt – “That’s just normal sediment. Pieces of rust from the pipes themselves… minerals mostly,” according to John P. Boucher, supervisor for fire safety services for FMO Fire Group – may color the water, making faucets run yellowy-orange water.

But quadlings, don’t be too quick to mock the river. Fell free to rejoice tomorrow, but the silty sinks will soon head out there, too. All of Harvard’s hydrants will be checked sometime this fall, Boucher said.

The rust colored water, though unappetizing, is safe for consumption. (Boucher said he would drink it.)

Full text of the announcement after the jump.

Here’s the text of the announcement:

THE FMO FIRE GROUP WILL BE CONDUCTING ANNUAL FIRE HYDRANT MAINTENANCE AND FLOW TESTS BETWEEN 4:00PM AND 8:00PM IN THE River Area