At the June 12 meeting of the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) Board of Directors, District Engineer/Manager Justin Ramsey provided a final update on PAWSD’s efforts to test fire hydrants in the community.
Ramsey explained that testing of the approximately 1,100 hydrants connected to the PAWSD system had been completed by the hydrant testing contractor slightly less than two weeks before the meeting.
Of these hydrants, seven would need to be replaced and 32 had “significant problems” that PAWSD staff would work on, Ramsey stated.
He added that some others would require maintenance such as painting.
Ramsey indicated that PAWSD staff would work on developing a plan for future testing and maintenance of hydrants building off these results.
PAWSD board member Alex Boehmer expressed surprise that all the hydrants that needed replacement were located uptown and that no downtown hydrants needed to be replaced.
In response to a question from PAWSD board chair Gene Tautges, Ramsey stated that the cost of replacing the hydrants would be about $70,000.
Ramsey added that all hydrants provided water and that the primary reason hydrants needed to be replaced is that they could not be turned off.
PAWSD board member Glenn Walsh commented that this was “great news” and thanked all the people involved with the project.
josh@pagosasun.com
