First Responders for Water Service: Inside OUC’s Water Operations Department

Most people never think about the water flowing from their tap — until it stops. But across Orlando, more than 156,000 OUC customers rely every day on a nearly 2,000-mile network of underground pipes, valves, hydrants, and meters working quietly behind the scenes.

But the work of OUC’s Water Operations department is anything but quiet. They are tasked with keeping that vast system operating safely and reliably requires constant vigilance, rapid response to emergencies and a proactive maintenance program. Working around the clock, the team responds to water emergencies, detects hidden problems and maintains critical infrastructure that keeps clean, great-tasting drinking water flowing.

Rapid Response to Outages

It might start with a customer noticing a puddle forming on the street. Or a call to customer service reporting no water coming out of the tap at a home.

When customers lose water service or a water main breaks, trouble technicians are the first on the scene. These specialists respond to everything from “no water” calls to leaks, water main breaks, broken water meter components, and even hydrant damage.

“’Troublemen’ operate just like emergency responders, but for water,” explained Corey Johnson, Water Operations Manager.

If it’s a minor problem — like a small service line leak — technicians often make repairs on the spot. For larger issues, such as water main breaks, they coordinate with repair crews from the Water Distribution department’s Construction team to restore service. This rapid response prevents small problems from becoming major outages.

Customers Play an Important Role

Much of the department’s work comes from customers reporting issues.

“They see a leak, they call it in, and we go out and work,” said Johnson.

Johnson says customers play an important role in protecting the water system. Water pooling in the street, unexplained runoff or other unusual conditions are often the first signs of an underground leak. Reporting those issues quickly allows crews to respond before more significant damage occurs. Customers can report water leaks to OUC by calling 407-423-9018.

The Work You Never See: Proactive System Protection

While emergency response is critical, much of the department’s work involves proactive maintenance.

A key priority is leak detection. Using specialized equipment, teams monitor the system to identify hidden leaks, especially in mature water mains. Finding and repairing these leaks early reduces water loss, which helps conserve this precious natural resource.

Maintaining the System’s Critical Components

Beyond leaks, the department manages essential infrastructure.

Hydrant maintenance is one major responsibility. Aside from responding to calls about non-functioning hydrants, the Water Maintenance team (part of Operations) inspects every hydrant (OUC models are silver and blue) annually to ensure it is fully operational — an effort that supports the city’s top-tier fire protection rating (I.S.O.).

Valve maintenance is equally important.  Valves control the flow of water throughout the system and are critical during repairs or emergencies. Teams routinely locate, test, and map valves using GPS technology to ensure they can quickly isolate issues and reduce outage times.

Backflow prevention is another key function. These devices protect the drinking water supply from contamination. The department installs, tests, and maintains residential backflow devices and ensures commercial customers meet annual testing requirements.

Behind the Scenes – but Essential Every Day

The Water Operations team is ready to respond at a moment’s notice, and they work tirelessly to prevent problems before they impact customers.

Everything they do is guided by strict regulatory standards and a commitment to public health. From reducing water loss to preventing contamination, every task supports the same goal: delivering safe drinking water to the community.

“Orlando is growing by leaps and bounds. And we must maintain the integrity of the distribution system as new backflows, new hydrants and other new equipment are added. It all must be installed, maintained and tested,” said Johnson.

Much of the team’s work happens underground, at night or behind the scenes, so customers rarely see it. But that’s exactly the goal. When OUC’s Water Operations team is doing its job well, customers can simply turn on the tap and expect safe, reliable water every time.

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Exploring OUC’s Water Teams

Water Operations works closely with other teams at OUC in serving customers across its 200-square-mile service territory. As part of this six-part series, you’ll learn about Water Production, which pulls water from the Floridan Aquifer; Water Distribution, which maintains mains, service lines and critical infrastructure; Water Engineering, which designs, plans and manages new infrastructure and systems; Water Metering, which collects data for customer billing and system monitoring; and the Water Quality Lab, which tests water at multiple points in the system.