Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County on Wednesday allocated $250,000 to install and replace fire hydrants throughout its five-county service area during the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
Officials said the program is part of the authority’s annual effort to upgrade the water system through a variety of capital improvements such as new hydrants, water meters, pipes, valves and service lines that were included in the budget approved this year.
Board members approved a contract to purchase an unspecified number of hydrants for new installations and replacements. The average price for each new hydrant will be just less than $2,485.
The number of new hydrants and replacements installed over the next 12 months is unknown.
“There are no set numbers and we’ll determine if any need to be replaced after inspections are done,” said authority Manager Mike Kukura.
The water authority has a network of about 8,800 fire hydrants throughout its service territory in Westmoreland, Allegheny, Armstrong, Fayette and Indiana counties. Each hydrant is inspected about once every 16 months to determine if they are operational.
A TribLive investigation revealed hydrants throughout Pennsylvania, while routinely inspected, remain unregulated in regard to how much water they produce. Flow tests are not required and rarely performed on hydrants.
The authority performed no flow tests so far in 2025, according to statistics released this week. The Trib reported the authority completed 517 flow tests since 2014.
Since the start of January, the authority has conducted 1,259 hydrant inspections, including 670 in February. Seven hydrants were found to be out of service and earmarked for replacement, while another two were determined to need repairs.
Four new hydrants were installed along the water system and one replacement of an existing hydrant was completed last month, the authority said.
Money allocated for hydrant replacements was included in the the $129 million budget approved in January for the new fiscal year that starts next month.
Water and sewer rates were increased by an average of 9.5% as part of that budget, in part to pay for rising costs of equipment and supplies and to cover additional debt related to the borrowing of $75 million earmarked for system upgrades in the next five years.
Kukura said the money will cover general upgrades as well as the ongoing expansion of the Indian Creek Water Treatment plant near Connellsville and upgrades of a treatment plant in McKeesport.