A broken fire hydrant that was running water for weeks was finally fixed.
According to neighborhood residents, a fire hydrant located on the corner of Randall and Calhoun avenues that had been uncontrollably gushing water for about three weeks has finally been repaired.
The problem began at the beginning of the month, when local residents called 311 repeatedly in attempts to fix the broken hydrant but were not initially responded to.
Some residents even filed complaints with the Department of Environmental Protection and the FDNY, but no action resulted.
“I filed numerous complaints with 311, the DEP, as well as the fire department, which were not responded to for weeks,” said a Throggs Neck resident who wished to remain annonymous. “All that was accomplished in that two-week period was that a cone was put next to and on top of the fire hydrant while it continued to gush water.”
A two-liter plastic container was also placed under the running water to contain the excess spillage, which accomplished little, considering the fact that fire hydrants with red tops run hundreds of gallons of water per minute and fire hydrants with orange tops run between 501-1000 gallons per minute. The type of fire hydrant has not been confirmed.
Concerned residents, began to worry about low water pressure and high water bills, as well as the environment as a whole.
“Given the drought in California and elsewhere in the southwest part of the United States, I find it absolutely deplorable that such a simple problem was allowed to persist for so long – it’s city negligence,” he said.
Finally, about two weeks after the fire hydrant problem began, the Department of Environmental Protection went to the location to attempt a repair, but to no avail after three trys.
The following week, however the fire hydrant was finally repaired by the DEP, who had to open up the concrete sidewalk to get to the problem.
They determined that the cause of the water leak was a broken valve in the hydrant.
