Hydrant Testing
Fire Hydrants are one of the most important pieces of equipment that fire departments need in order to do the job of fire suppression. For that reason we need to check on our hydrants operational readiness annually. That means we have to open them fully and allow them to run until the water runs clear. We then lubricate all the threads on all the caps and check the hydrants mechanical operation so that we can be sure the hydrant will work when needed. Then the ground around the hydrant is checked to make sure no trees or shrubs are so close to the hydrant that they would affect its operation. Reflectors in the road in front of the hydrant are checked to make sure they are present and in the right location. These reflectors help us to find the hydrants at night in an emergency. All this information is then put into a database and forwarded to the appropriate jurisdiction for correction of any problem that is discovered. When water is flowed through a hydrant that is opened fully, sometimes sediment in the water main is dislodged from the underground pipes and turns the water a rusty color. This is an unfortunate side effect of checking the operational readiness of fire hydrants. For this reason we have gone to a new method for checking fire hydrants. In 2005, we contacted all the water authorities in our jurisdictions and asked them to create a new route for us to take when we check hydrants. Individual hydrants are numbered in a sequence for us to check so that we can flush the water mains as we check the hydrants in an attempt to flush the sediment out of the mains as we go forward with our flowing of the hydrants. In most cases this new system has worked out quite well, but there is still work to be done to reduce the sediment problem. One side effect of this new system is that it has slowed the whole process down considerably. We can no longer send two or more crews into an area and open hydrants randomly; we have to maintain the sequence. We may have to suspend hydrant checking during times of drought, when a water well or pump is down or whenever schedule conflicts arise. For this reason we can only give a general time range when we will be in your city checking hydrants. The time ranges and completion of each village will be posted on this site. I am sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but I hope that this will help you understand the need for this important operation.
Projected Month
For Hydrant Testing
VILLAGE |
MONTH |
COMPLETED |
| City of Bunker Hill Village | APRIL / MAY |
|
| City of Hedwig Village | MAY |
|
| City of Hilshire Village | APRIL |
|
| City of Hunters Creek Village | JULY |
|
| City of Piney Point Village | MAY |
|
| City of Spring Valley | APRIL |