NAPLES, FL, Nov. 15, 2004 -- Hydro-Guard officially unveiled its latest advancement in automatic flushing technology today at this year's Florida Section AWWA Fall Conference in Orlando, Fla., but its benefits are already at work in the state assisting in hurricane relief.
The portable HG-6 hydrant flushing system joins Hydro-Guard's traditional automatic and programmable flushing systems but is designed for temporary or emergency response applications.
In an effort to assist utilities throughout Florida with their recovery efforts following hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne, Hydro-Guard worked with water providers in Lee County, Orange County, and the city of Arcadia -- three areas hit hardest by the recent storms -- to help them restore the quality of their water to acceptable standards.
The installation of the portable system served to fast track the recovery efforts of these utilities by enabling each to target critically affected areas within their distribution systems that were adversely affected by widespread power outages and service line failures as a result of the storms.
Whether deployed under normal operating conditions for temporary flushing at critical points within the water distribution system, or to assist in the recovery of acceptable water quality levels following a disaster, the hydrant flushing system can be programmed for as many as six flushes per day with flush durations ranging from one minute to 12 hours. The self-supportive system comes standard with an advanced and waterproof integrated programmer, sampling port, adjustable height hydrant connection, and erosion-control splash pad. Its erosion-control splash pad provides additional stability for the device. Its adjustable height connection allows for up to eight inches of height adjustment enabling the operator to lower or raise the connection to fit virtually any hydrant in the field. And, the device can be equipped with a dechlorination chamber for use in environmentally sensitive areas within a distribution system.
According to Dwayne Tagg, Lee County water distribution manager, the utility was forced to purchase water from a remote source following Hurricane Charley. By the time the water reached the county's distribution system, residual levels and overall water quality were below the EPA's acceptable potable water quality standards. Lee County deployed two HG-6 units into the field at critical points in the system to enhance the level of water quality.
"Since introducing the concept of advanced maintenance flushing to the municipal and private potable distribution industries in 2000, Hydro-Guard has focused its energy and resources on designing and manufacturing the most durable and highest capability automatic, programmable flushing devices available," said Hydro-Guard president Tom Taylor, P.E. "With our adjustable programmer, multiple flush per day capacity and varying levels of freeze protection serving to ensure year-round automated functionality and maximum return on investment, the Hydro-Guard line has served to save tens of millions of gallons of potable water and countless labor hours associated with water-quality maintenance while effectively increasing a utility's ability to deliver water meeting the stringent quality standards set by the EPA."
Prior to the introduction of the HG-6 hydrant flushing system, the line of all-weather flushing devices from Hydro-Guard (www.hydro-guard.com) was designed exclusively for use in permanent and semi-permanent installations. With rapid growth and multi-phase residential and industrial development projects calling for the frequent creation of new and the expansion of existing distribution systems, Hydro-Guard devices are relied upon to automatically deliver high quality potable water to low-demand areas and remote points within the system without calling for the traditional expenditure of labor associated with manual flushing programs.
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