On a recent Thursday morning, firefighter Brashaud Harris secured a large, blue-handled wrench around a bolt on a fire hydrant on Cooper Avenue and gave it a twist. Water shot out, spraying several feet before falling to the concrete below, hissing like waves crashing on a shore.
Between May 1 and June 30, firefighters test all 1,338 hydrants in Anniston’s jurisdiction as part of an annual safety check.
Firefighters from Anniston’s five fire stations are responsible for testing all of the hydrants within a two- to three-month period. Each station has three shifts, which allows for 15 crews to test hydrants. Lt. Kevin Waddell’s shift is responsible for 100 of those hydrants.
“We do a lot of important things, but testing is definitely up there,” Waddell said.
Between emergency calls, training and other responsibilities, firefighters work to test every hydrant for correct water pressure and the expected water level.
“The test tells us how much water is available in the water system and we need to know that at a moment’s notice when something is happening,” Waddell said.
While each test generally takes 5 to 10 minutes to generate an accurate reading, collectively they’re extremely important to the community, according to Waddell.
“If somebody’s house is on fire, they aren’t going to want us to make sure there is enough water right then,” Waddell said. “They’re going to want us to know that ahead of time.”
While the engines do carry up to 1,000 gallons of water, sometimes that amount is not enough and firefighters have to pull water from hydrants to battle blazes. There are some areas where hydrants are available on every block, but other places in their coverage area don’t have hydrants for much longer stretches, according to Waddell.
Anniston’s hydrants are color-coded to indicate the size of the water main on which the hydrants are located. The colored caps tell firefighters how many gallons per minute they can get from each hydrant. Red caps signify the lowest amount, producing 500 gallons per minute. Blue caps, which hold the largest amount of water, produce 1,500 gallons per minute. In emergencies, it is crucial for these numbers to be accurate.
“We can pull up to a scene, see it, and determine how much water we can get out of it,” Waddell said. “Then I can determine if we can get what we need from that hydrant or if we need to pull from another hydrant.”
According to Waddell, crews find between 10 and 20 faulty hydrants per year.
“Almost every year we will go out and find a hydrant where a cap is missing or water is leaking from different parts of the hydrant or under ground,” Waddell said.
Once they find a hydrant with an issue, firefighters report it to the city’s water department, which is responsible for fixing any problems.
Ed Turner, general manager of the Anniston Water Works and Sewer Board, said once an issue is reported to the board, it’s pretty simple — crews just fix it. Some issues, like a leak, take longer to fix than simply replacing a missing cap, according to Turner.
“If they have one that won’t actually operate, we have to replace the entire hydrant,” Turner said.
If an entire hydrant has to be replaced, it will cost the city between $5,000 and $7,000, according to Michael Jones, a spokesman at McWane Inc. — the parent company of local hydrant manufacturer M & H Valve Company.
While the price tag is high, it’s a necessary cost for cities if there is a non-operating hydrant. Luckily, hydrants don’t have to be entirely replaced very often, according to Waddell.
“In almost nine years of being here, I’ve never seen a major deficiency in the water system, so it’s been good,” Waddell said.
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