Keeping Vaughan’s water safe and clean

Have you noticed water running out of fire hydrants near you? This may be from the City of Vaughan’s annual routine flushing and swabbing of watermains – part of preventative maintenance efforts taking place at select locations in Ward 1 this month.

To ensure the City continues to provide clean and safe drinking water to residents and businesses, regular maintenance is required. Over time, mineral and sediment build-up can discolour water and slow down its stream. Flushing and swabbing watermains removes the natural build-up of scale and sediments from water and assists in improving pressure, flow and helps to prevent potential water quality issues. Overall, this important work ensures water continues to flow now and for generations to come.

Households affected by this maintenance have already been notified. Those citizens are asked to please refrain from using water during an allotted time frame as it may impact work being done and could result in receiving discoloured water. After work is complete, they should run the cold water tap closest to their water meter (usually located in the basement) for approximately three to five minutes until the water is clear. Again, these households in Ward 1 have received notification of when the maintenance will take place and the steps to take.

For questions on the work being done, contact Access Vaughan at 905-832-2281 or accessvaughan@vaughan.ca.

Your part in keeping fire hydrants accessible

You have a role to play in keeping fire hydrants accessible when needed, especially in an emergency. As outlined in the City of Vaughan’s Water By-law 177-2016 (PDF), citizens who have a fire hydrant on their property or City property adjacent to theirs are responsible for ensuring the hydrant is always visible and unobstructed. Ensure litter, leaves and other yard waste are not blocking the area surrounding a fire hydrant and an accessible path from the street to the hydrant is maintained at all times.

Smart Hydrants

In 2020, the City installed five Smart Hydrant kits as a pilot project. The devices provide the City with useful insights into the water system, such as drops in pressure, acoustic data, temperature information and more. The Smart Hydrant kits have real-time system monitoring, data storage and analytics to identify potential leaks within infrastructure and their locations while generating alerts to operations staff for follow-up actions in the field. This innovative technology allows for a proactive approach to addressing watermain breaks in areas in close proximity to the Smart Hydrant and have helped determine why citizens may have a drop in water pressure when their home falls within a specific area.

Other benefits include:

• lower operating costs: fewer watermain breaks lead to a reduction in costly emergency repairs.
• less water loss: fewer watermain breaks and a reduction in leaks leads to less water loss.
• improvement in water services: fewer watermain breaks lead to fewer emergency shutdowns and minimizes interruption to water services. 

Currently, the City is working to secure 10 more Smart Hydrant kits to add to its infrastructure.

To learn more about the City’s water operations, visit vaughan.ca/water.  

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