Home || Fire Department || Hydrant Testing

Fire Hydrant Testing

The Aurora Fire Department will be flow testing water hydrants beginning May 1 and ending June 28, 2012 to assure the hydrants have the water flow required and will operate properly in the event of an emergency.  Since the testing may produce rusty water capable of staining clothes, officials are requesting residents refrain from doing laundry between the hours of 8 a.m. and noon, Mondays through Thursdays, which is when the testing will be conducted.

The program, which operates on a three-year cycle in which approximately 1/3 of the city’s hydrants are tested each year, is conducted in the late spring and early summer to have less impact on Aurora’s water system demands than during the later summer months.  The set schedule also allows any urgent repairs that may be discovered during the testing to be performed when Water and Sewer Department staffing is at optimum levels and also allows officials to give residents a set schedule as to when they should avoid doing laundry.

Any laundry that is stained by rusty water should not be dried.  Rather, Liquid Poly, a chemical treatment for stains should be used.  Citizens can make arrangements to pick up a free bottle of the treatment by calling the Central Fire Station, 75 N. Broadway, (630) 256-4000; Fire Station 3 at 600 W. Indian Trail Road, (630) 256-4030; or Fire Station 5 at 730 Hill Avenue, (630) 256-4050, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Monday-Sunday.  It is imperative that citizens call the respective fire stations first to schedule an exact pickup time.  It is also available by calling the Water Treatment Plant, 1111 Aurora Avenue, at (630) 256-3250, between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.