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FDNY Asked to Open Hydrants Amid Water Quality Concerns

By Jess Wisloski | May 30, 2012 10:22pm
A hydrant with a spray cap on 180th Street in Washington Heights.
A hydrant with a spray cap on 180th Street in Washington Heights.
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DNAinfo/Justin Mermelstein

NEW YORK CITY — The city's Department of Environmental Protection ordered fire stations citywide to each open two hydrants in their commands Wednesday night, the FDNY and DEP said.

"We did experience a moderate malfunction that did not impact New York City's water supply in any way," DEP spokesman Chris Gillbride said. "We detected higher-than-normal fluoride levels in a contained chamber. It did not enter New York City's water supply system."

Opening the hydrants, Gillbride explained, maintained water pressure in city aqueducts. "If the pressure in an aqueduct is high, nothing can enter it," he said.

The DEP asked fire houses to keep water flowing from two hydrants in areas that would not be disruptive or interrupt traffic, a fire department spokesman said. There are 218 fire houses citywide, according to the FDNY website.