MORGANTOWN – The state Public Service Commission still awaits replies from a few dozen utilities on its statewide fire hydrant safety investigation, and the project is so huge PSC staff is recommending the commission set a procedural schedule.
PSC staff posted a series of memos to the commission on Thursday.
One memo says they now expect fewer replies than originally estimated. They first believed there were 305 water utilities across the state but lowered the number to 277 because some utilities have no hydrants, some utilities are defunct, some are operated by other utilities and there has been some duplication of records.
Of the 277 that are required to respond to their survey, 49 still haven’t.
Staff also noted that the submitted responses vary widely, with some providing complete responses while others provide the bare minimum.
“Engineering Staff continues its review on this large investigation in order to better understand the state-of-the-industry with respect to fire hydrant maintenance and testing across West Virginia,” the memo says.
Meanwhile, legal staff wrote to the commission, “given the need for adequate time to properly correlate, analyze, and assimilate the considerable volume of information from this large, statewide general investigation,” they recommend the commission set a procedural schedule with dates for final submission of outstanding reports, and for potential testimony and hearings if needed.
PSC sent out the fire hydrant survey to all water utilities on June 30. Rural hydrants are required to have a 500 gallons per minute flow, while the statewide minimum is 250 gpm. They must be able to function for two hours – needing 60,000 gallons of storage in the system.
The American Water Works Association sets the accepted consensus standard that hydrants must be inspected annually, and flow tested every three or five years.
PSC has said the survey will allow it to develop a more extensive database on maintenance and testing of the tens of thousands of hydrants across the state, how many are in compliance and what the PSC or the Legislature needs to do to encourage compliance. It’s never before required any utility to provide anything other than the number of hydrants.
O Sept. 1, the PSC sent out a letter to the delinquent utilities calling on them to respond within 10 days. By Sept. 15, a number had responded, and PSC chair Charlotte Lane said in a statement, “We are calling each of them to try to get the information before we do anything else. Our goal is to try to get the information, not punish them.”
The PSC told legislators in August that hydrants are designed to last 100 years, and there are a few that old, but the majority – according to the responses filed so far – are less than 50 years old and parts are still available.
Costs for replacing hydrants can be a deterrent for small utilities,the PSC said. New hydrants on new water lines cost about $5,000 each. New hydrants on existing lines, as part of a bigger project, cost $10,000 each, And one utility reported replacing 10 at $13,000 apiece.
Email: dbeard@dominionpost.com
