Modesto fire hydrants to gush water

Modesto expects as many as 105,000 gallons of water to gush out of 20 fire hydrants late this month or in early September in a test of the city water system’s flow and pressure.

The city is getting the word out now so residents won’t be alarmed or think the city is wasting water during a fourth year of drought and while the state is requiring Modesto and its water customers to reduce their water use by 36 percent.

“It’s obviously high profile,” Utilities Department Director Larry Parlin said about the hydrant tests.

Parlin said the test is part of the work a consultant is doing for a master plan of the city’s water system. He said checking the water flow and pressure is standard for a master plan and ordinarily not a big deal.

He said the consultant and city will turn the hydrants on for three to five minutes. A device will measure the flow and pressure. He expects 63,000 to 105,000 gallons of water will gush from the hydrants. The city will have sewer vacuum trucks suck up as much water as possible. He expects the trucks will recover as much as half of the water. The water can be used on city trees or dumped into storm water basins, where it eventually will seep into the ground.

Parlin said 105,000 gallons is enough water for about 300 homes for one month. But here is some context: In July, Modesto’s water customers used roughly 1.7 billion gallons of water.

Parlin told the City Council last week about this test while updating council members on the city’s water conservation efforts.

He said the city reduced its water use 37 percent in May, 34 percent in June and 32 percent in July. The reductions are based on water use for the same month in 2013. As of Sunday, Modesto had reduced its water use 30 percent for the first 16 days of August, according to water systems manager Dave Savidge.

City officials have been concerned that it would become more difficult for residents to save water as their lawns started to die during summer. Parlin told council members that the city is adjusting the hours of its water patrols in which workers look for people violating city water restrictions by watering their lawns on the wrong day or wasting water by having water from sprinklers pour into gutters.

This story was originally published August 18, 2015 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Modesto fire hydrants to gush water."