Port Hope launches hydrant flushing initiative
By reporter Natalie Hamilton
The Municipality of Port Hope is rolling out its hydrant flushing initiative.
The hydrant maintenance program started on weekdays as of Sept. 8 and will continue until Oct. 23.
“This important upkeep ensures adequate water flow and pressure is available throughout the urban area of the community,” noted municipal staff, in a recent release.
The Municipality of Port Hope is asking residents to note when the hydrant flushing is taking place in their area and to avoid doing laundry as water may be at lower pressure than normal and rust may occur. If residents experience discoloured water, officials said they should flush a cold water tap for five to 10 minutes.
If discolouration continues, call the municipality at 905-885-8760 or send an email and an operator will investigate, staff noted. Residents can also use the “report an issue” tool and select “water service issue” on the website at https://www.porthope.ca/en/index.aspx.
The hydrant flushing schedule for the west side of Ganaraska River is Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to noon.
The schedule for the east side of Ganaraska River is Monday to Friday from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Port Hope’s hydrants are painted different colours – blue, green, orange and red – to represent the amount of flow coming from each hydrant. The fire department relies on those colours to determine how much water can be taken per minute, explained staff.
Changes to infrastructure can affect the flow of each hydrant, noted staff.
Staff will be performing flow testing on about 125 hydrants. Once the flow tests are completed, the hydrants will be repainted if necessary. This project is set to take four years with a quarter of the urban area hydrants tested each year, added staff.
Crews will also be adding reflective ear markers to hydrants. This can be seen in many surrounding municipalities. Staff said this increases the visibility of the hydrants for firefighters during low-light conditions.
Comments