Your editorial “Fire hydrants are critical infrastructure” (Dec. 2, TribLive) about the Elizabeth Township hydrant underscores the importance of this infrastructure, and we want to clarify Pennsylvania American Water’s (PAWC) commitment to reliability and safety.
We adhere to American Water Works Association protocols for annual hydrant inspection and maintenance, and we completed inspections in our Allegheny County systems earlier this fall.
The hydrant involved in the recent incident passed its annual inspection in September 2025 and is connected to a large-diameter water main designed to deliver high-volume flow meeting firefighting standards.
While PAWC preliminarily believes that user operation during the response to the Elizabeth Township fire played a role, the hydrant will be further analyzed and has already been replaced to provide ongoing reliability.
Out of approximately 8,000 hydrants we maintain in Allegheny County, we estimate no more than five may be out of service at any given time, and these are typically addressed within 72 hours. If a hydrant is out of service, we notify the local fire department — and again when it is restored.
We stand by the integrity of its infrastructure and invest millions annually to support fire flows and system reliability. We also make annual contributions to local fire departments to support training and equipment, as teamwork is crucial to public safety.
Pennsylvania American Water is committed to ongoing dialogue and joint efforts with fire departments to ensure readiness and performance in every emergency.
James Jericho
McMurray