Letter: City wasting thousands of gallons of water

Denise McCorkle
St Augustine, FL

Dear Editor:

I am writing to Historic City News because, once again, my neighborhood is being flooded by an out-of-control fire hydrant that has apparently been fitted to dump thousands of gallons of treated water into the street several times every day.

I find it ridiculous, wasteful, and dangerous as this hydrant in North Davis Shores comes on, full blast, and runs for hours on end; chasing pedestrians into my neighbor’s yard or into the street, where cars have to take evasive action.

Tonight the PVC pipe they rigged up last year broke so now the water is gushing and spraying all over the street, spraying into passing cars, walkers, and bikers.

This is just ONE hydrant. How many more in the city do this?

The water quality on North St Augustine Boulevard is abysmal, but “flushing the pipes” this way cannot be a serious long-term solution. We have suffered this annoying hazard since last summer.

I have called the City Water Department and Fire Department often, but, nothing is ever done.