Beginning April 1st, the Plainview Fire Department will begin flow-testing fire hydrants located within the City Limits of Plainview.
In order to maintain optimum fire protection capabilities, flow tests are required to be performed annually. To determine the accurate flow of a hydrant, firefighters must fully open each hydrant and allow water to flow. Spring is the optimum time to perform these tests as water demand is less than summer and the risk of freezing water on roadways is limited.
Flow checks are beneficial to citizens in many ways. Some of the most important benefits include:
- Allowing the Fire Department to color code hydrants based on the amount of water that is available from an individual hydrant. This allows firefighters to determine the closest hydrant capable of flowing sufficient amounts of water to extinguish the type of fire at a given location.
- Allows “flushing” of debris and sediment from the water system. By flushing the hydrants, the sediment and debris is removed, increasing water quality and reducing the chances that this debris or sediment will cause damage to fire engines.
- Allows Fire and Water Departments to locate any problems associated with the water distribution system.
The process of flow-testing the hydrants will normally take several weeks since there are over 700 fire hydrants within our City Limits.” Fire Chief Rusty Powers said. “It is our goal to have the flow testing completed by the end of May.”
(News release from the City of Plainview)
