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N: The summer may be over, but the Washington Heights assistant community board director Deborah Blow is still working on the hottest issue of the past few months. According to the Department for Environmental Protection, or D-E-P, more fire hydrants were broken open in her neighborhood than in almost any other. But Blow says the culprits are far from being a gangs of marauding vandals. Rather, they are just local kids and adults with few other ways to beat the heat.
DEBORAH BLOW 1: There are a lot of people/ that don't do a lot of traveling, or really don't get off the block, or don't have the advantages that other people have. But yet they would like a cool dip in the water sometimes. (13 seconds)
N: But this understandable desire has serious consequences. On hot days when millions of gallons of water flow from the neighborhood's busted hydrants, water pressure can drop to critically low levels. Many residents find they can't take showers or even wash the dishes. And When fires break out, firemen can lack the water to put out the flames. Also, since the neighborhood is home to the massive Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, low water pressure can put essential hospital functions at risk. D-E-P spokesman Charles Sturkin such such an event is not unprecedented.
CHARLES STURKIN: Couple of years ago there was a hospital out in Jamaica, Queens, that just nearly lost pressure. I remember getting the call on a Saturday afternoon. And those people - you know - you have dialysis people going on in there, you have operations going on. Can't run a hospital without water. (14 seconds)
N: To prepare for next summer, Deborah Blow is designing several approaches to the problem. She wants to create educational videos in Spanish and Russian to teach neighborhood children about water conservation. She also wants to petition the Department of Parks to build more sprinkler fountains in the area, so residents can cool down legally. The D-E-P estimates an that a broken hydrant left open for 24 hours can waste a million gallons of water, at a cost of over seven thousand dollars. Given this, Blow says that funding a few fountains is a worthwhile investment.
DEBORAH BLOW 2: If you have to compare how much water is being wasted as opposed to how much they could conserve, then maybe/ you could find the money to build a sprinkler system. (14 seconds)
N: The Washington Heights Community Board is due to debate Blow's proposals tonight. Tom Lane, Columbia Radio News.