Fire hydrant replacement begins in Shenandoah
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - A new fire hydrant is seen at East Centre and North Bridge Streets in Shenandoah on August 17, 2023.
SHENANDOAH – Within a week of Aqua Pennsylvania’s announcement that nearly a quarter of the fire hydrants in and around town were inoperable, several have already been replaced.
Some of those replaced include hydrants which were no longer present, including one taken out by a hit-and-run driver at Centre and Bridge Streets and another that had been removed years ago at Jardin and Lloyd.
Aqua, based in Bryn Mawr, Montgomery County, purchased the Municipal Authority of the Borough of Shenandoah and took ownership of the authority earlier this summer.
Within the first three weeks, the company evaluated the fire hydrants in the system, finding that 45 of 195 were inoperable and bagging the ones that were out of service.
Bags could be seen on hydrants across Shenandoah and in West Mahanoy Township last Thursday.
This week, Aqua had been replacing hydrants around town, including on Centre Street, Bridge Street, and Lloyd Street.
Aqua called the evaluation of its hydrants “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.”
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