Maintenance Committee: Fire Hydrants

In Niguel Shores the utility infrastructure is not NSCA property, but the appearance of the utilities’ equipment’s has a significant effect on the overall community appearance. Within our association boundaries, we have about 100 fire hydrants. Their exposure to the Dana Point environment has resulted in the all too familiar problem of rust. The Maintenance Committee has been looking into just who is responsible and how this situation can be remedied.
A call to the Orange County Fire Authority established that the Fire Authority does have an annual program to inspect and verify that every hydrant functions properly, but the installation and maintenance of these hydrants lies with the South Coast Water District. The Maintenance Committee made contact with the support services of SCWD and alerted them to the NSCA situation. Happily, SCWD agreed to begin cleaning and painting all of our hydrants. This activity was completed a few weeks ago. A two-man SCWD crew visited each hydrant and:
■ Pressure washed the hydrant;
■ Brush scrubbed each with a detergent;
■ Rinsed and let dry;
■ Applied a rust solvent and cleaned up the residue; and
■ Painted the hydrant.
Thanks to SCWD’s cooperation, another element of our infrastructure is up to NSCA standards.
—Bob Gregg