Condition assessment involves inspecting, operating, and assessing the mechanical condition and operational reliability of hydrants in a water distribution system. Wachs Water Services hydrant maintenance field crews provide a comprehensive condition assessment report detailing the status, operability, and estimated residual life of all fire hydrants in the water distribution system, and work with data analysts to help assign a level of criticality to each hydrant for determining future maintenance scheduling. Drawing on the experience of assessing hundreds of thousands of water utility assets, Wachs Water Services technicians provide utilities with the vital information needed for planning and funding utility capital improvement projects.

Condition assessment services collect, organize, and analyze the physical data, operational data, and discrepancy data of all fire hydrants in the water distribution system. Physical data includes:

• Hydrant ID number
• Manufacturer and model
• Date of manufacture
• Paint condition
• Missing or defective items such as caps, misaligned nozzles, rounded operating nuts

Operational data includes number of turns, closing direction observed leakage, flow observation, specific operational deficiencies and other necessary operational information. Discrepancy information includes defects and operational issues for generating a work order description for repair, rehabilitation, or replacement as needed.

Fire hydrant flow
Fire hydrant flow and pressure testing identifies the amount of water a fire hydrant is capable of delivering during an emergency situation. Field crews perform a mechanical test, pressure test, and flow test with every fire hydrant on a recurring basis to ensure fire hydrant flow problems are regularly identified and corrected. All hydrants are flow tested in accordance with the AWWA M-17 fire hydrant flow testing standards, and older hydrants using lead seals are updated to newer lead-free designs to remove any chance of contaminating the water system. Wachs Water Services hydrant management crews identify the exact fire hydrant flow rate of individual assets using color-coded bands, enabling Fire Department personnel to instantly identify the gallons-per-minute output of each fire hydrant in emergency situations.

Hydrant mechanical inspections include removing, greasing, and replacing all caps, slowly opening and bleeding the air out of each fire hydrant, and pressurizing the hydrant barrel at full system pressure. The pressure test is performed with the fire hydrant charged with full system pressure, with any leakage noted and documented. The fire hydrant flow test is conducted by opening the pumper cap, affixing a diffuser, and slowly opening the fire hydrant to observe flow. The fire hydrant is slowly closed, drainage of the fire hydrant is observed and documented, then caps are replaced and water service fully restored to the area.

Fire hydrant repair
Fire hydrant repair services focus on correcting mechanical and operational discrepancies revealed by hydrant condition assessment services that inspect, operate, and assess the mechanical condition of hydrants. A new replacement hydrant can cost more than 20 times the expense of mechanically servicing a hydrant or replacing a defective component within the hydrant. Fire hydrant repair and rehabilitation services include upper and/or lower barrel repairs, seat valve, stem, top nut, and O-ring setscrew servicing or replacement, nozzle realignment, lubrication, and hydrant repainting, followed by mechanical testing, pressure testing, and flow testing to ensure the rehabilitated or repaired hydrant meets full industry standards and operational specifications.

Hydrant testing and field data capture
Hydrant maintenance programs from Wachs Water Services use advanced geospatial positioning tools and water GIS software for hydrant maintenance and water supply planning. Highly trained field crews precisely pinpoint hydrant locations using Trimble handheld GPS units, inspect, cycle, and operationally test hydrants, capture the hydrant data, and upload the digital information to a water GIS database/CMMS work order system. To ensure data accuracy, information management data analysts perform post-processing of all field data collected, and delivered in ESRI-compliant databases, or formats compatible with any other water GIS or CMMS software platform.