JAMAICA WATER SUPPLY COMPANY.

[68jk09]

324 used to respond with SAT*4 to 10-75s in the old Jamaica Water Supply area thru out South Queens due to the old JWS Yellow Hydrants some which only had one 2 1/2 inch outlet on a six inch main........ in 275s area there were actually some Drafting Pits setup by the JWS ....the City has since upgraded the Hydrants / Mains after the DEP took over the JWS.......the JWS was a private corporation that ran a very efficient operation & actually had roving patrols that drove thru the streets surveying & testing their Hydrants....all Units in DV*13 would forward their Hydrant Repair tickets to DV*13 who would forward them to 275 & once each week we would bring all he Tickets to the JWS office near our FH & they would address them forthwith ......years ago they also had a system where if there was a job in the JWS area they could on a request from the IC thru the QNS Dispatcher actually raise the pressure in the mains (not to be confused with the old NYC Hi Pressure Hydrant System ) .......weekly Multi Unit Drills with 275...303...126 & BN*50 took place in an enclosed area of the York College maintenance area...there was an old time JWS Hydrant nearby that we hooked up to for Drill Evolutions.....one day when we were dropping off the Repair Tickets at the JWS office I asked them ( no report or anything just verbal to the person behind the counter) if they could upgrade the Hydrant that we used at the Drill Location....the next weekend when we went to Drill there was new Hydrant installed.... JWS was a very efficient operation........ regarding the MUD site at York College it adjoined a very old Cemetery & from time to time looking thru the fence it was sad to see that grave robbers would excavate a small area in front of a headstone ( so old that the chiseling had almost worn off ) in search of jewelry that had been buried there for so long.

 

[mack]

Groundwater Supply System​

Between 1887 and 1996, the privately owned Jamaica Water Supply Company (JWS) operated a group of wells that served the communities of southeastern Queens and portions of Nassau County. In 1996, New York City purchased the Queens portion of the JWS and took responsibility for the delivery of drinking water to those communities served by the groundwater wells. After acquiring the JWS wells, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) renamed the group of wells the groundwater supply system.

Located in southeastern Queens, the groundwater supply system consists of 67 supply wells at 43 well stations and several water storage tanks. Most of the system has not operated in more than 14 years, but the groundwater system did provide water to a limited portion of the city’s distribution system in Queens until 2007. When online, residents within the service area received groundwater or a mix of ground and surface waters depending on demand and supply availability.

Groundwater Supply System - DEP

 

[mack]

Why Some New York Fire Hydrants Are Yellow​

By Michael Pollak
June 3, 2011



Q. Why are some city fire hydrants yellow? The only places I recall seeing them are in parts of Queens.

A. You may be referring to some “legacy hydrants” the city inherited from the former Jamaica Water Supply Company system, suggested Michael Saucier, a spokesman for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection. In 1996, the city took over the company, the city’s last privately owned supplier.

Actually, the coloration of city hydrants is more standardized than many people seem to think. “Since the early 20th century, residents have been suggesting possible variations for fire hydrants — yellow, white, fluorescent colors, and even painting them like Revolutionary soldiers in honor of the Bicentennial in 1976,” Mr. Saucier said in an e-mail. “However, the ubiquitous black and silver has been the standard for New York City for over 70 years.”

The reasons are practical, Mr. Saucier said: The black barrels don’t soil as easily and are therefore cheaper to maintain, while the silver bonnets protect against corrosion and make the hydrants easier to see at night.