By Carla Zanoni and Tom Liddy
DNAinfo Staff
MANHATTAN — City officials are warning New Yorkers trying to stay cool during the brutal heat wave not to open fire hydrants illegally.
The city's consumption of water was nearly double the normal 1 billion gallons Friday at 1.9 billion gallons, according to Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Cas Holloway. On Saturday, consumption was expected to dip slightly to 1.5 billion gallons, still 50 percent above normal.
Holloway the spike was due in part to "an increase in open hydrants."
"We need to make sure we keep the pressure in the system," he said. "If you're going to run a fire hydrant, go to your local fire company and get a spray cap."
FDNY Deputy Chief William Seelig echoed the warning. "It could be a deadly combination of an open hydrant and fire occurring in the same neighborhood," he said.
While Holloway said that there was "no immediate pressure problem in the system" Saturday, residents in Inwood and Washington Heights said that they were experiencing pressure dips and brown water conditions.
"We are having a serious brown water problem here [Friday] night on 218th between Park Terrace East and Park Terrace West [in Inwood]," said one poster in the online parenting forum, InwoodKids.
"I was on hold for ages waiting for a specialist (DEP) at 311 to report it. The only information they could provide was that it's almost certainly as a result of fire hydrants being open."
Another poster said that hydrants "are open all over my neighborhood [in the West 180s]."
Yet another said that hydrants were open on many blocks in the neighborhood near Hillside and Nagle avenues.
"It drives me insane," the poster wrote. "I understand people are hot, but there are parks with sprinklers less than a 10 min walk away and public pools 15 mins away by train."
And on 204th Street and Nagle Avenue, in Inwood, one poster had "no water at all in my apt."
"I've called 311 about the two open hydrants on my block and nothing has been done as of yet," the poster wrote.
