MORGANTOWN – The state Public Service Commission launched a statewide investigation of fire hydrant safety – maintenance and inspections – at the end of June. It gave the water utilities until Friday to submit reports using forms it issued and the results are pouring in.
We offer here a look at a couple local utilities’ results. A future story will look at more utilities’ records.
The PSC said in its June 30 announcement that utilities are responsible for assuring hydrants will perform correctly. If a hydrant doesn’t have adequate flow, the utility is not providing adequate service. Hydrants must have minimum flows of 250 gallons per minute.
Utilities were required to provide information including the number of hydrants owned or serviced, their age, supporting infrastructure, problems or complaints, and maintenance schedules.
The PSC said Friday it will begin collating the information turned in, and it doesn’t know how long that might take. PSC chair Charlotte Lane said in June, “We are seeking information and will evaluate when we receive it and then we will determine if further action is necessary.”
Morgantown Utility Board reported it owns 557 hydrants, with another 508 privately owned on utility main and service lines. MUB doesn’t know the full number of privately owned hydrants but is aware of 103.
MUB has 226 hydrants older than 50 years old, and another 219 it doesn’t know the age of because they came to MUB through acquiring other water systems.
MUB inspects on average 1,065 hydrants per year. Hydrant maintenance and replacement costs about $97,486 per year. It has removed and replaced 27 hydrants in the last five years and installed 145 new ones.
On the issue of hydrant flow rates, MUB said the Morgantown Fire Department tests hydrants inside city limits, while it tests flow rates when requested for fire protection. The vast majority of its hydrants provide at least 250 GPM. It is working with a consultant to create a hydraulic model of its whole system, which will be used, among other things, to confirm available hydrant flows.
MUB said it has received no hydrant-related complaints over the last 10 years. On a 1-10 scale, it rates its annual inspection and testing program as a 9.
Clay Battelle Public Service District self-rates its program as a 5. It has 12 hydrants along with six privately owned. The oldest of its PSD-owned hydrants was installed in 1988.
It inspects all 12 of its PSD-owned hydrants every year and spends on average $3,206 per year on its program. It has removed and replaced one in the last five years and installed five new hydrants.
The hydrants’ flow rate is more than double the minimum required: 581 GPM.
It has received no complaints in the last 10 years but devotes a page to problems with area volunteer fire departments.
Overall cooperation and response from VFDs is an issue, Clay Battelle said. Water utilities should not be absorbing costs associated with water losses from VFD usage.
Clay Battelle buys its water from another system. It says a March fire cost the PSD $388.43, and there should be a system for PSDs to recoup costs from the state or another entity, or to obtain cost reductions from the system selling them the water.
Clay Battelle notes that it is close to the Pennsylvania border and Pennsylvania VFDs sometimes pull water from its hydrants.
“Overall, we often have difficulty with getting the fire departments to report usage from hydrants,” it says.
Two VFDs do have water meters at their stations, and that water is paid for. But “obviously, the net water loss incurred and reported by the PSD is overstated when fire departments don’t report use from fire hydrants.”
Clay Battelle PSD makes two other final points. One, no VFD has ever claimed responsibility for damaging a hydrant, “even if we have knowledge of VFDs using the hydrant.”
And sometimes the state Division of Highways uses PSD hydrants to clean culverts without permission – another money loss for the PSD.
Email: dbeard@dominionpost.com
