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SFPUC details emergency firefighting water system, highlights upgrades and coverage gaps
Summary
SFPUC staff presented the structure and recent upgrades to the city's emergency firefighting water system, describing cisterns, high‑pressure piping, pump stations and a planned potable/emergency hybrid project to extend coverage to the western neighborhoods.
Steve Ritchie, assistant general manager for water, told the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission that the city maintains two distinct systems for firefighting water: the low‑pressure potable hydrant network and a separate high‑pressure emergency firefighting water system (EFWS) designed to withstand large earthquakes and conflagrations.
Ritchie said the city has about 9,887 fire hydrants in total, roughly 1,300 of which are high‑pressure hydrants attached to the EFWS. He described the EFWS sources — Twin Peaks Reservoir, Ashbury Tank and Jones Street Tank — and two pump stations that can also draw bay water. “This is designed for emergencies. It’s not really designed for day to day use,” Ritchie said, adding that the system includes about…
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