What is Wasted water costing you?

Water conservation is a major concern because water is not a renewable resource. Wasting water is detrimental to the environment and it costs you money. The average hydrant has two weep holes used to drain water from the hydrant after it has been turned off; if water continues to leak from these weep holes at 60 psi you could be wasting large amounts of water.

For example: If it costs you just $0.25 per thousand gallons to produce your water, a leaky hydrant could cost you:

*Daily: 20,880 gallons water lost for a cost of $5.22.

*Weekly: 146,160 gallons water lost for a cost of $36.40.

*Monthly: 626,400 gallons water lost for a cost of $ 158.34.

*Yearly: 7,516,800 gallons water lost for a cost of $ 1900.08.

Imagine if you had more than one hydrant leaking in your system, multiply the number of hydrants leaking by these figures and see what it is costing you. If you repair those leaking hydrants, the money that you will save will pay for the cost of the repairs.

As an operator of a water system we all look for unaccounted water and ways to save money. By performing maintenance and repairs to the hydrants we assure that we are conserving our natural resources and saving our customers money at the same time.

It is also important that we assure the citizens of our cities that the fire hydrants are in proper working order. All hydrants should be checked at least once a year and operated with a record made of this service. We never want to find out that a hydrant does not work during a time of an emergency. Please let us help you.

 With problem hydrants in the system you must do something to insure that they are in proper working order. If hydrants are leaking, to hard to operate, or to low to the ground and need to be extended all these problems must be addressed. With city budgets being a concern replacing your broken hydrants may not be the best option in all cases. So, what is the most cost effective way to solve these problems?

To replace your problem hydrant with a brand new hydrant plus the materials to install it, and the three hours it will take for a crew with a backhoe to complete the installation will cost you approximately  $ 5000.00. Another downside to replacement is you have to turn off the water which will disrupt the city’s water service.

In contrast, to repair that same hydrant it would only cost you between $1000.00 and $1500. We can replace all of the internal working parts of the hydrant, and 99% of the time we do not require the water to be turned off. Most hydrants are repairable. Wow! What a difference. Whether the hydrant is to low and needs to be raised to grade; or the hydrant is hard to operate and only needs a top job to make it operational again repairing your hydrants should always be your first choice.

After looking at the comparisons I feel that it is more cost effective to repair rather than replace those problem hydrants. You can repair two hydrants for the cost of replacing one hydrant. By doing this you can spread your budget farther and achieve better results.

Hopefully by discussing the options available to you I have helped you provide a quality service to your customers. My goal is to help the citizens of your community have a hydrant working for them when they need it.