By Mark van der Feyst
When securing a water source from a hydrant, it is important to make sure the hydrant works before hooking up the hose. Do this by opening the hydrant momentarily to flow some water and then close it.
This flushing also removes any debris that may be present inside the hydrant — whether put there on purpose or naturally occurring such as sediment.
When flushing the hydrant, it is important to fully open the hydrant to produce a full stream of water. When the hydrant is only opened enough to allow for a small amount of water flow, the flow can be misleading. This will not tell you if the hydrant is working properly and it will not have enough power to blow out any debris that may be present.
The extra time it takes to fully open and close the hydrant is small compared to the time it will take to secure another water source because the first one wasn’t checked properly.