By Jessica Coates

jessica.coates@salisburypost.com

The Landis Fire Department has finished testing the flow of its fire hydrants for the first time in five years, and that means a more colorful – and informative – change is on the way.

Crews will paint the hydrants within the next several weeks, “and they’ll be color-coded,” Town Manager Reed Linn said Monday night.

The color-coding system is not unique to Landis. Towns across the country use the system in order to help firefighters quickly identify the water pressure for each fire hydrant.

But Reed said Monday night, after the Board of Aldermen meeting concluded, that the adoption of the color-coded system in Landis has been a long-awaited change.

“(We) just finished a very thorough water system upgrade. We spent almost $4 million upgrading the system,” he said. “So we haven’t been able to (test) flow … for the last four or five years because we were working on the system.”

Over the past six months, firefighters tested the water flow of every fire hydrant in Landis in order to classify it in the color system.

A blue top would mean a capacity of 1,500 or more gallons per minute, which is the highest flow rating. The colors then move down from green to orange to red, with red being a very low – and probably inadequate – flow.

“It helps us because we’ll know where our best water is in the system. Like, when you have a large fire, you’ll know, ‘We shouldn’t hook to that hydrant because that’s a bad hydrant,’” Linn said.

The system also allows for different fire hydrant outlet cap and body colors.

Other business discussed at the meeting included:

• Whether certain sidewalks in the community conform to standards of the Americans With Disabilities Acts.

Town resident Nadine Cherry brought forward these concerns and noted the sidewalks on South Chapel Street and South Central Avenue specifically.

• A presentation by Power Homes Solar LLC regarding a problem with costs relating to a customer’s solar electric system.

Contact reporter Jessica Coates at 704-797-4222.