Hydrant Testing Season Begins Now – Each year WPFD starts testing fire hydrants to ensure good access and proper operation. We have many across our district and this testing takes months to complete. We all start now in late winter or early spring but it takes a while to complete all the testing.

We expect to have all fire hydrants in our fire district completed before June 1st. This includes hydrants connected to either Central Arkansas Water, Paron-Owensville Water (CAW), Salem Water Users, and private hydrants in our fire district boundaries.

When we check them, some natural sediment in the line will be disturbed from the high-flow testing. This can create some dirty or cloudy water. Water in the line is still safe to drink and has no health concerns. The flushing effect simply stirs up some small particles in the line that have settled to the bottom in the many, many miles of supply line.

As we do this effort, we remind you that if you have a fire hydrant on or near your property, there are requirements for access so that we can operate in case you need us to put out a fire on your property or neighborhood. Keeping a hydrant accessible (not gated in or obstructed) and a working area of at least 3 feet radius is needed. It would be so helpful to keep branches, grass, weeds or other obstructions generally trimmed away. Any help you can provide is most appreciated!

If you have questions, post them here and we will do our best to advise. Otherwise, reach out to your local water provider if you use public water (yes, many folks still use well water and that is fine), but be aware some cloudy water during our testing cycle is not necessarily a break in the line or unhealthy.