UPDATE: With Testing Complete on Majority Of Hydrants, Maintenance Proposal Drafted

The D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department has finished testing all but a few of the city's fire hydrants and has drawn up a plan in which hydrants would be tested twice a year, spokesman Alan Etter said.

The city has inspected hydrants maintained by the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority as well as some on private property, Etter said.

"Over 10,000 fire hydrants maintained by WASA and private institutions, like colleges and hospitals," have been inspected, Etter said. According to WASA, the city has 9,086 hydrants, not including private hydrants and those maintained by the National Park Service.

Etter said fire officials inspected the hydrants at the White House last week and planned to inspect the last of the hard-to-reach hydrants -- such as those in highway tunnels -- over the weekend.

The city began examining its hydrants after the April 30 fire at the Georgetown public library, during which firefighters were unable to draw water from the two hydrants closest to the building. Firefighters had to use hydrants about two blocks away. City hydrants had not undergone comprehensive testing in about seven years, officials have said. WASA, a quasi-independent agency, is responsible for maintaining the city's hydrants.

"We still estimate 10 to 11 percent are out of service for whatever reason," Etter said. "But the point is they've now been identified."

The city's new fire chief, Dennis L. Rubin, had set a goal of checking all hydrants by September.

WASA spokeswoman Michele Quander-Collins said that hydrant repairs are made within five days but that replacements can take up to 10 days. About 25 hydrants are replaced each week, she said.

Etter said the department has presented a memorandum of understanding to WASA, calling for hydrants to be tested by the fire department twice a year and WASA to fund the program. A discussion is planned for this month.

-- Michael E. Ruane