The District representatives on the Board of Directors for the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) today unanimously ratified a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between WASA and DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services (FEMS) that outlines roles and responsibilities for the District’s fire hydrants.

The signed MOU comes after 18 months of joint sessions between the two agencies and covers the following key provisions:

• FEMS inspects all hydrants twice a year

• FEMS identifies and places rings on hydrants that are out-of-service or require maintenance

• WASA repairs and/or replaces hydrants and marks hydrants according to flow

• WASA provides all equipment

• WASA and FEMS share operating costs

“This MOU represents a fresh page for the District and both agencies. Ensuring public safety is our ultimate concern, and I look forward to further coordinated efforts to upgrade and improve our systems for emergency services,” said Robin B. Martin, Chairman of the WASA Board of Directors.

Also during the meeting, WASA staff presented an interim report of District locations that have a large number of smaller diameter mains and the status of the study to determine whether there are sufficient high capacity hydrants in those areas. WASA has conducted a hydraulic analysis and will next complete an evaluation of the system capacity and report its findings in November.

Yesterday, WASA launched a unique tool, based on Google Earth® to provide the general public with easy access to critical data about individual fire hydrants in the District. The new Google Earth® tool is accessible to the public by visiting WASA’s website, www.dcwasa.com and selecting “Fire Hydrants” on the home page.

Individuals without DSL or cable modem (broadband) can use computers at a public library. The District of Columbia Public Library offers public access to the Internet at various library branches and can be contacted at (202) 727-0321 for more information. Customers may also contact WASA at (202) 612-3400 to determine the status of a particular hydrant or to report a hydrant that may be leaking or damaged. In the future, WASA will launch additional tools for customers without broadband capabilities.

For more information, visit www.dcwasa.com.

The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) is a multi-jurisdictional regional utility that provides drinking water, wastewater collection and treatment to more than 500,000 residential commercial and governmental customers in the District of Columbia and also collects and treats wastewater for 1.6 million customers in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland, and Fairfax and Loudon counties in Virginia. WASA is responsible for the maintenance of more than 9,000 public hydrants. The Authority is spending $25 million on a hydrant program to replace 3500 hydrants over the next five years.

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