Flushing of fire hydrants in the Whakatāne urban area has now been completed and has confirmed that the town’s water reticulation system is generally in good shape.

The flushing programme was carried out over recent weekends by the Whakatāne Voluntary Fire Brigade and Whakatāne District Council and is part of the routine maintenance of the town’s water reticulation system.

Council Infrastructure General Manager Tomasz Krawczyk says the flushing identifies any flow issues which may affect firefighting capabilities and also removes any accumulated sediment from the system. “Of the 705 hydrants flushed, less than 1 percent had any flow issues and those have now been addressed. That confirms that the reticulation system is in good condition,” he says.

“Residents in the vicinity of each fire hydrant would have noticed a short loss of water pressure while the flushing was undertaken. We’re very appreciative of the level of community awareness and cooperation shown, with very few calls being received by our customer services team and just two complaints about discoloured water after the work was completed.”

Fire Brigade spokesman Ken Clark says the programme was a useful exercise and his officers were also appreciative of the public’s cooperation. “We found that very few hydrants were affected by sediment build-up, which means the system is in pretty good shape.”