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Contractor says five Brookshire hydrants are inoperable; overnight repairs discussed to limit service disruption
Summary
The contractor for Brookshire Municipal Water District reported five nonoperational hydrants—two with stuck isolation valves and three lacking isolation valves— and described overnight repair plans; ownership confirmed as Brookshire Municipal Water District and council discussed customer impacts and boil-water procedures.
A contractor for the Brookshire Municipal Water District told the council on July 2 that an annual hydrant evaluation found five hydrants that could not be made operational during the inspection.
John Taylor of MOC, the contractor working with the Brookshire Municipal Water District, said two hydrants have stuck isolation valves and three lack isolation valves, meaning repairs would require taking parts of the water system offline. "The issue with a hydrant repair is you never know what you're going to get until you dig it up," Taylor said, describing a process in which crews carefully excavate, order parts and perform overnight repairs to reduce customer disruption.
Taylor said overnight work typically starts around 10 or 11 p.m. with multiple crews and that past overnight efforts fixed multiple leaks with water returned by early morning. Council members raised concerns about businesses that rely on continuous water service and discussed boil-water-notice procedures and bacteriological sampling required after a shutdown. The contractor said the city has about 125 hydrants and that a broken hydrant means firefighters would need to use the next closest hydrant; ownership was confirmed as the Brookshire Municipal Water District.
Staff said they will present options and costs to the water-district board; council and the contractor agreed that careful communication with customers and staged shutoffs would be important if overnight repairs proceed.
