People going about Hastings have recently started to notice small boxes attached to the bases of fire hydrants about town, and KDWA reached out to the Public Works Deprtment to find out what purpose they serve. According to Public Works Director Ryan Stempski, the units are “test stations” for Public Works personnel to connect to when they need to locate a water main. Stempski said that an electrically conductive tracer wire runs underground then along the water main pipe for them to get a clear reading using low frequency with line tracing equipment. This is required when pipes are plastic and there is no other way to locate them.
