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Cal Water describes SCADA, hydrant upgrades and rapid‑response team for wildfire support
Summary
Cal Water’s Beayshore District described remote SCADA controls, recent large‑diameter mains and generator projects, a rapid‑response mutual‑aid team, and a hydrant inspection program covering ~929 hydrants in San Carlos.
Cal Water’s Beayshore District told San Carlos residents the utility maintains active steps to support firefighting during wildfires, including 24/7 SCADA monitoring, targeted infrastructure hardening, a rapid‑response mutual‑aid team and a multi‑year hydrant maintenance program.
Kevin Williams, operations manager for the Beayshore District, said Cal Water’s San Carlos system includes about 114 miles of mains, roughly 929 fire hydrants and more than 6.2 million gallons of storage. He described SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) staff who can remotely move water and remotely start booster pumps or open valves to respond to abnormal draws during fires; on red‑flag warning days, staff follow procedures to top off tanks and bring operable facilities into service.
Williams gave a field example: after a South San Francisco incident, a local fire manager (Ken Anderson, emergency services manager) reported improved hydrant flow two minutes after Cal Water operators adjusted SCADA settings. Williams said that illustrates how remote control and rapid operator response can materially affect firefighting capability.
Cal Water listed recent wildfire‑hardening projects in San Carlos such as installing a 2,700‑foot 12‑inch ductile‑iron main to improve flow into a cluster of fire stations and adding stationary generators with automatic transfer switches at key sites to keep pumps running during power outages. Williams also described the company’s rapid‑response team (formed after the 2018 Camp Fire), now about 70 members with go‑bags and regional deployment plans, and an emergency response trailer capable of sustaining six workers for up to seven days.
On hydrant upkeep, Williams said the utility performs visual inspections annually and performs maintenance on about 15% of hydrants each year so each hydrant receives required maintenance once every five years; he estimated a typical hydrant maintenance cost at about $4,000.
Cal Water invited residents to report suspected hydrant problems for rapid inspection and asked the public to understand that domestic distribution systems are not designed to fight wind‑driven megafires but that investments and maintenance improve readiness.
