There’s been another pipe break during City hydrant testing.
As a result, firefighters will get additional training from Water Department personnel, interim City Manager Joe Duran said.
Calls from westside residents complaining about low water pressure started around 1 p.m. March 26. It made sense to first check water lines that firefighters had been testing that day, Duran said.
City workers found Calle Chavez flooded and quickly sent crews and equipment to get the situation under control.
“The Streets, Water and Waste Water Departments all coordinated their efforts professionally and efficiently,” Duran said.
But just as quickly as the crews showed up, a city dump truck hit a soggy bit of pavement and sunk. A wrecker had to be called to get the dump truck out. By that time, the water had been turned off and city workers had located utility lines, Duran said.
Workers eventually found that about 10 feet of water pipe had split and needed to be replaced.
The split was caused by a water hammer, Duran said, which happens when a line is closed too quickly on one end.
City Fire Department Lt. Ron Padilla said he can’t be sure it wasn’t his crew’s fault. However, he’s been very clear with them about closing lines slowly, he said, and that hydrant testing at lower elevations needs extra care as the pressure is higher.
Still, Padilla said, “If a hydrant or a pipe is going to go, we’d rather find out during testing.”
In his 15 years as a firefighter, Padilla said, he’s learned that these things happen.
“We always break a few lines,” he said. “That’s just the way it is.”
The first line to break during hydrant testing this year was on Hunter Street, three weeks ago. A 25-foot section of six-inch water line had to be replaced after it split.
Duran said that split was caused by a water hammer as well. Repairs cost the City $27,000.
Firefighters have been up against a deadline to inspect the city’s approximately 500 fire hydrants in time to have the data included as part of a hydro-analysis report. The report is used to determine the city’s insurance rating, which can affect how much building owners in the city pay for insurance.
The city had briefly considered hiring an outside contractor to do the testing, but Police Chief Eric Garcia said that was impractical.
“We found it’s easier for me to pay overtime for my firefighters to do the testing than find and pay a contractor and then have to pay another contractor to do the water study,” Garcia said March 18.
Duran said part of the problem with the pipes splitting is that usually Water Department employees are out assisting firefighters, but the Department has been short-staffed recently.
“The Water Department opens and closes hydrants every day and they don’t have that problem,” Duran said. “The firefighters are a little rushed and they don’t have help from the experts.”
Duran said the two departments will need to coordinate better.