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Fire hydrant gushing on Fulton since Friday is draining Spreckels Lake

Posted on by Sarah B.


Photo by Elaine L.

This past Saturday, we got an email from reader Wally R., telling us about a fire hydrant on Fulton near 34th Avenue that was hemorrhaging water. A SF Water Department truck was parked next to it (but no workers in site) and the area was cordoned off with caution tape.

Wally was particularly upset because he first spotted the issue on Friday afternoon, and after calling 311, the water was still pouring into the street nearly two days later. No signs were posted explaining why.

“In the last 24 hours thousands, heck, maybe even millions gallons of clean water have been wasted just pouring out onto the street!” Wally wrote.

Fast forward to today and the hydrant is STILL gushing gallons of water out onto Fulton street. Reader Elaine L. also contacted us, dismayed by the wasteful act. She was told by a SF Water worker on site that it was ordered by the SFFD to “release pressure” in the system. But when Elaine called the SFFD, she was told it was something the SF Water Department was doing.

So what the heck is going on? We did a little digging to try and find out why millions of gallons of waters are being spilled onto a city street…

We first reached out to Lt. Mindy Talmadge, spokesperson for the SFFD. It turns out that particular hydrant on Fulton near 34th is a “suction” hydrant. And where does it draw from? Spreckels Lake. She was told by the PUC that the lake was being drained. The SFFD has nothing to do with the operation.

Which puts it into Rec & Park territory. We have a call into Rec & Park and are hoping to get an answer on why Spreckels Lake is being drained, perhaps for cleaning? We’ll update you as soon as we know more.

In the meantime, the drainage is expected continue for several more days, possibly even through the end of the weekend. And while it’s not clean drinking water that is being wasted, let’s hope that it is being re-purposed in some way.

UPDATE 6/18/13 1:43pm: We heard back from Sarah Ballard from SF Rec & Park who confirmed that the suction hydrant at 34th & Fulton (technically a Rec & Park hydrant, not a SFFD hydrant though it is backup for the Fire Dept.) is draining water from Spreckels Lake. The drainage operation is part of an approved project to repair walkways and retaining walls in Spreckels Lake. The draining will continue through this Friday. Ballard said the water being drained from the Lake is not being re-purposed in any way, but she emphasized that it is groundwater from the lake, and not potable water. Spreckels Lake will be filled back up in mid-August.

Sarah B.

Thanks to commenter Tim who turned us on to this cool History Minute from outsidelands.org that gives some good info on our city’s hydrants:

14 Comments

  3. @Tim – very cool! Added it to the post.

    Sarah B.

  4. So, what about the fish and the turtles in the pond? There are big koi that live in there and some turtles that live in the water that are going to just die. Please respond if you know if they’ve been “relocated?” Otherwise I’ll try to go out there w/ a bucket tomorrow and go in there, with boots, and try to move them to the other lake closer to 20th Ave (if they’re still alive).

  6. Good to know! Thanks for the info! Now I don’t have to shake my head every time I drive by 😉

  7. They are not dredging the lake, & they don’t do this every few years….they’re repairing a portion of the coping or edge treatment of the walking surface around Spreckels Lake that needs replacement. It is currently separating and sagging on the South side of the lake. There will be enough water remaining to maintain animal life during the project.

  9. Lauren, I can’t say that the heron’s won’t have easy picking though 🙁

  10. So what will those men that play with their remote control boats on Spreckels Lake do while this renovation is in process?

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  13. Is the restoration complete? Is the lake full of water again? We live on the peninsula and want to make a visit to the lake but not if it is empty.

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