Long-awaited improvements to our water infrastructure at Hansberry Garden are nearing completion! The new system includes two hydrants, each of which will supply two hoses. When one of these hydrants is shut off, water in the system is flushed out to below the frost level in the ground. This relieves the Chairs of Landscape and Maintenance (the CLaMs) of the difficult task of disconnecting the water from the street and reconnecting it whenever the temperature goes below freezing.

Please remember to turn off the hydrant each time you use it unless someone else is still using the same hydrant. We now have three hoses with spray heads, and it’s easy to forget to turn off the water at the source, but leaving it on puts stress on the hose fittings and may result in leakage.

Here’s how the hydrants work:

Hydrant in “off” position

Lift handle to turn water on

Each hose also has an on/off valve. If the hydrant is turned off, these valves need not be used, but in case it’s necessary to turn off only one of the hoses, note that the valve is is the “on” position when it is parallel to the direction in which the water flows through the spigot. In the picture above, the black hose is turned on and the green hose is turned off.

Water for the sink and hose by the shed

One of the hydrants feeds a hose that goes to the sink. The sink is operated by a foot pedal that is currently broken, but a replacement pedal has been purchased and will be installed soon. The hose also leads to a spigot near the toolshed to which another hose is attached; that hose, which can easily serve the beds in the C and D columns, will be kept on a mount on the shed wall.