What We Do
Hydrant Inspection & Maintenance
Joint Fire Hydrant Inspection and Maintenance Program
DC Water and the District Fire and Emergency Services (FEMS) share responsibility in this program. FEMS performs condition assessments of all District hydrants twice a year, while DC Water is responsible for repair, maintenance and/or replacement of hydrants. We are not aware of any other jurisdiction that conducts a complete assessment of its entire inventory twice per year.
During these inspections, FEMS can obviously inspect hydrants faster than repairs and replacements can be made by DC Water. So there are times during the inspection periods when the numbers of maintenance required and out of service hydrants will be much higher.
However, DC Water and FEMS have agreed upon the process for prioritizing hydrant repairs and replacements so that an adequate number of operable hydrants are available at all times — for example, if two adjacent hydrants are designated as out of service, at least one of the hydrants is repaired or replaced as soon as possible.
Using State-of-the-Art Technology
FEMS and DC Water are collaborating to incorporate state-of-the-art technology in firefighting and water supply planning. As they inspect public fire hydrants, FEMS is using handheld GPS units developed by DC Water to locate hydrants, capture the hydrant data and upload the information to DC Water's database. This process provides nearly real-time hydrant status. Other jurisdictions are closely monitoring progress with this new, innovative technology for potential introduction in their operations. Laptop devices in both FEMS and DC Water vehicles also provide information on fire hydrant status.