Valve Exercising and Hydrant Services

Valve Exercising

Maintaining and exercising valves is a vital part of water distribution systems. If a valve is not used or properly exercised, it can seize-up from corrosion and make the valve inoperable. This can become a serious problem especially in an emergency when every moment counts.

By exercising valves on a regular basis you can make sure that they will operate when they're needed for a repair on that section of line, to shut off water to a delinquent customer or to turn off the water to a broken line. When the valves don't work in these situations, crews need to go to a valve further back, cutting off water to more customers and wasting time as they look for the next valve. Fortunately, SCE is here to help.

SCE staff are properly trained in valve maintenance and only use the best equipment to get the job done. You can have confidence that your valves were properly exercised, located and thoroughly cleaned.

Valve exercising programs include:

Operating/exercising valves

Locating valves
Assigning ID numbers
Documenting Valve location, depth, number of turns and size
Cleaning valve box
Painting valve box lid or placing marker if necessary
Identifying and documenting valves inoperable, broken or leaking

Fire Hydrant Flushing and Flow Testing

Annual Fire hydrant flushing is a vital task that has many benefits. Hydrant flushing helps remove mineral deposits that naturally accumulate on water pipes by flushing the water out at a high rate and replacing it with fresh water. This will ensure water quality, adequate flow and uncover potential problems with the hydrant or valve.

Benefits to a Annual Flushing Program:

Verifies sufficient flow for firefighting
Verifies proper operation of hydrants and valves
Removes sediment and mineral build up from water lines
Improves Water Quality
Helps maintain chlorine disinfection levels

Flow Test

SCE also provides flow testing services. Flow testing is conducted to determine the water availability at an acceptable pressure and flow rate. Fire fighters depend on this and it can make the difference between life and death in emergencies .

Fire Hydrant Color Codes:

BLUE 1500 GPM or more, Very good flows

GREEN 1000-1499 GPM, Good for residential areas

ORANGE 500-999 GPM, Marginally adequate

RED Below 500 GPM, Inadequate

Page updated

Report abuse