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City dwellers doused as water department flushes fire hydrants

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 1, 2009 at 6:10 am

Fire hydrant 009From San Francisco Weekly:

“Conversation in the line for a chi-chi Mission Bay taqueria was dampened the other day when, a few yards off, a city water department employee hooked what appeared to be an oversize cow bell to the fire hydrant. Before anyone could make a “more cowbell” joke, a torrent of water blasted out of the device, forcing the stylish patrons awaiting their overpriced fare to leap like Mexican jumping beans, lest their footwear be doused.

Then the water department employee kicked back and let the torrent run, full-bore, for well longer than anyone should spend on a lunch break. … “

Read more from SF Weekly by clicking here.

In a follow-up article, SF Weekly found out more:

“Yesterday, Public Utilities Commission spokesman Tyrone Jue told us that the de-facto power-washing of Mission Bay’s sidewalks has more uses than simply preventing clogged fire lines. It’s also keeping you from drinking filth. This is the logical aftermath of the dreaded “brown water” complaints.

“It’s not just sedimentation issues, but water quality issues. If you leave water in a glass, it becomes stale. The same things happens in a water system if there’s not enough usage,” says Jue. “So, typically, around holiday time, there’s less usage in the Downtown area, so it is possible the water is becoming stale.”

Read more of this follow-up article from SF Weekly by clicking here.

December 1, 2009 · Filed Under Bay Area

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