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Found A Faulty Hydrant? City Wants To Know

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By ELLEN GEDALIUS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 24, 2007

TAMPA - The city is starting a public awareness campaign to encourage residents to report problems with fire hydrants.

The campaign comes in response to Tampa Tribune stories that showed the city was not inspecting its hydrants annually, as required by state law.

The campaign also was prompted by public concern after a faulty hydrant was found at a Northdale fire this summer, said Eli Franco, the water department's consumer affairs manager.

Franco said the department received calls from residents after the stories and the fire.

"People were wondering and trying to be proactive," Franco said.

The city is responsible for maintaining and inspecting about 13,000 hydrants. Workers recently inspected all of the hydrants in a nine-week blitz. The water department has tentative plans to contract out the work in the future.

With such a large number of hydrants, workers might not immediately notice a problem, Franco said.

The city wants residents to look for signs of faulty hydrants, such as missing caps and leaks. Hydrants leaning at an angle or broken off at their bases are other signs of problems.

"We don't want to create hysteria," Franco said. "We just want it to be something people look for."
Bill Duvall said representatives from Tampa Homeowners, an Association of Neighborhoods, met with Mayor Pam Iorio last week. Hydrants were a topic of conversation, said Duvall, who serves on the executive board of the homeowners group.

The mayor told the homeowners association that the city should be able to fix reported hydrant problems within three days, Duvall said. He predicts residents will be receptive to calling the city with any problems.

"It sounds like the right thing to do," Duvall said. "It takes a village."

Problems can be reported to the Tampa Water Department's 24-hour emergency repair and service line, (813) 274-7400.

Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com.

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