Aqua: Quarter of area fire hydrants inoperable after evaluation, will be repaired or replaced
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - A bag covers a fire hydrant at West Centre and South Catherine Streets in Shenandoah on August 10, 2023.
SHENANDOAH – Over the past three weeks, Aqua Pennsylvania has been testing fire hydrants in and around the Shenandoah area and bagging the ones they found to be inoperable.
That turned out to be about a quarter of them, the Montgomery County-based company which recently acquired the Municipal Authority of the Borough of Shenandoah, said Thursday.
The company said that their evaluation is now complete and 45 of the 195 hydrants in the MABS system were not operable, or about 23% of them.
The MABS system covers Shenandoah, the northern half of West Mahanoy Township, the Rappahannock and Connerton sections of Butler Township, and a small part of Girardville.
Bagged hydrants could be seen Thursday in various parts of Shenandoah as well as Brownsville.
Aqua called the evaluation “an important first step… to make sure they offer fire protection, and to start the repair or replacement process for hydrants that aren’t working.”
“We got right to work when we began operating MABS last month, including our fire hydrant inspection, which supports fire protection and improves system reliability and operations,” Aqua Pennsylvania president Marc Lucca said in a statement. “This is an important first step as we begin to make the necessary improvements to the community’s water infrastructure.”
Aqua has notified the impacted fire departments and is working closely with them to support fire protection in the community as the repair process begins.
Aqua also plans to invest more than $23 million in the MABS system over the next 10 years, including $10 million to replace water mains, some of which date back to the 1800s and have caused frequent outages and main leaks.
The company is also launching a water meter replacement and installation program to help address water loss, which has been estimated at 60%.
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