During vital fire hydrant repairs in Chicago, a valve from Advanced Valve Technologies helped ensure a fire and police station maintained their water supply.
Hydratec Services, a service and repair company, was called on to assist with the repair of a leaking fire hydrant in an East Texas location. Typically, fire hydrants are supplied by a ‘T’ line — a small section of water line that is fed by the main line running along a street.
Conventional water valves require a large section of pipe to be available when installed due to the need for at least two excavations for the fitting of line stops and a valve. However, one valve, AVT’s EZ Valve product, requires just one small excavation, allowing them to be fit on this small ‘T’ line and isolate the hydrant without affecting the rest of the local water supply.
The leaking fire hydrant could not be repaired under pressure so had to be shut off. This highlighted several issues. The closest isolation point was a good distance from the hydrant: up to three city blocks — which included a hotel, several restaurants and retail properties, a police station, and a fire station — would also need to lose their water supply for the repair to be completed.
Hydratec owns the kit required to install AVT EZ Valves so when they learned about the issue, they knew the installation of an insertion valve was the best option. Hydratec Services sent a team of three water industry professionals to fit the AVT product. They took just one and a half hours to install the valve on the 6” cast iron pipe.
“Many times fire hydrants sit at the end of short pipes leading from water mains so installing traditional line stops is out of the question,” said AVT’s VP of Global Sales, Shawn Petty. “The AVT EZ Valve can be installed on relatively short pieces of pipe and has time and time again proved itself to be the ideal solution when fire hydrant repairs are required.”
