Hydrant Guard Testimonial: Jake Chavira, City of La Palma
“I guess if I would have known or met them before we wouldn’t have had that problem. I wouldn’t have been flushing hydrants on Christmas Day.”
–Jake Chavira, Water/Maintenance Supervisor, City of La Palma
We recently sat down with Jake Chavira, Water/Maintenance Supervisor for the City of La Palma, to record the story of his first experience with Hydrant Guard.
After a car struck a hydrant on Christmas morning, he and his team of three water operators had to field 40-50 water calls in the area. They spent the holiday flushing hydrants to fix widespread water contamination. It even affected a nearby hospital, where “that was a priority for myself,” Jake said, “to flush out the entire area.”
Fortunately the City of La Palma already had a Hydrant Guard HG1 above-grade check valve for wet-barrel hydrants, and they installed it immediately following the incident. Installation went smoothly, but just a few months later the exact same hydrant was hit.
“This time, with the [Hydrant Guard] check valve installed, we experienced no water calls, no issues in pressure,” Jake recalled. After the area was cleared for safety, La Palma’s water operators reset the Hydrant Guard and went on with their day. It was that easy. “Unfortunately the area was without power for more than 24 hours, but water wasn’t an issue that day, nor was the water quality.”
The City of La Palma plans to continue installing Hydrant Guard check valves on their arterial streets. With a small team like the City of La Palma, it’s incredibly important to save time and money on hydrant sheers. Hydrant Guard allows them to install a check valve and reset it after a sheer in just half an hour, leaving more time and resources to get things done.
According to water supervisor Jake Chavira, “I would recommend it to any water district, or any city.”
Bottom line: if you live in the City of La Palma, you can rest assured that you have a skilled and dedicated team of water professionals making sure your water is safe, clean and available no matter what. At Hydrant Guard, we’re proud to be a part of that story.
Check out the gallery below for behind-the-scenes photos of the video shoot with Post and Jam at the City of La Palma.
From left: Jesse Anderson of Advanced Conservation Management, Warren Burley of Post and Jam, Jake Chavira of City of La Palma 
Jesse Anderson conducts interview with Jake Chavira with Post and Jam video setup 
Post and Jam camera operators gathering b-roll footage of hydrant in La Palma 
Video screenshot: hydrant in La Palma with Hydrant Guard check valve installed
Do you have your own Hydrant Guard story to tell? Let us know in the comments!
