The D.C. Water and Sewer Authority will speed up its inspection of the District’s more than 9,000 fire hydrants, committing to complete the assessment by the end of the summer.
WASA has been under pressure to repair broken hydrants since April 30, when the two closest hydrants to the Georgetown Neighborhood Library failed to work as the branch burned. Now, less than two weeks after the fire, the agency is allotting additional resources to finish an inspection of all 9,086 hydrants by Labor Day, rather than the end of the year as originally planned.
As of May 11, according to WASA, 29 hydrants were out of service. But there could be more.
“We haven’t inspected them all, but those are the 29 known fire hydrants,” said Michele Quander-Collins, WASA spokeswoman.
Staff with WASA and Fire and Emergency Medical Services have inspected 2,600 hydrants in the past year. Under a program launched in 2006, every hydrant will be inspected at least once every two years. The hydrants are generally checked as part of WASA’s water-flushing program.
“Our goal is to be through the city every other year, for everything,” said Charles Kiely, WASA’s assistant general manager.
In January, the authority’s board of directors allocated $26.5 million to replace 40 percent of the city’s hydrants, many of which were manufactured by prisoners at the now-closed Lorton penitentiary. The process should take five years.
