At Liberty, our customers and communities are our top priority. We invest in infrastructure to provide safe, reliable service to our customers now and in the future. Safety is an integral aspect of our work and, as a water utility, one of our most critical investments is in hydrants to help fight fires.
Liberty regularly exercises and inspects fire hydrants in our service territory to confirm they are working properly. When necessary, hydrants may be replaced or upgraded. Hydrant upgrades may include replacing a single port hydrant with a dual port, which helps to increase water flow by allowing the fire department to hook up more than one hose, or installing check valves to help reduce water loss in the event of hydrant damage. Liberty may also install new hydrants to meet spacing requirements when replacing a water main, resulting in more hydrants available for firefighters.
The availability and full functionality of fire hydrants is essential for extinguishing fires in our communities. Accordingly, funding for hydrant maintenance, replacements, and upgrades is a regular request in our general rate case. Such funding has supported upgrades, replacements, or additions of approximately 270 hydrants since 2019. As of 2022, Liberty has 1,964 hydrants throughout our southeast Los Angeles County service territory.
Liberty prioritizes the safety of our customers and communities by regularly maintaining, upgrading, or installing necessary hydrants to support firefighting capabilities.