fire hydrant inspection and maintenance - june 2019

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Fire Hydrant Inspection and Maintenance

Released: June 2019

Download the Full Report here
Download the Highlights Page here

We undertook this audit because faulty or non-functioning fire hydrants can hamper emergency responses and endanger firefighters and the public. Leaking hydrants can cause significant property damage. The Atlanta Fire Rescue Department is responsible for inspecting fire hydrants and the Department of Watershed Management's Office of Linear Infrastructure is responsible for maintaining fire hydrants.

Our recommendations are addressed both to the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department and to the Department of Watershed Management.

We found:

• Atlanta Fire Rescue Department may not inspect all hydrants under its jurisdiction and private hydrant inspections appeared inconsistent with city code.
• Fire Rescue uses unreliable technology that fails to capture all inspection results and inconsistently records inspections on hydrant cards.
• Lack of communication between Fire Rescue and Watershed Management hinders the hydrant inspection and maintenance process.
• Watershed Management was working with Fire Rescue to create an application that would allow both departments to more easily identify hydrants in need of inspection and repair, but the departments are yet to fully implement the project.
• Watershed Management reduced repair times by more than 80% over the last three years, but fell short of meeting performance targets.