No more dumpster pools in Philly: Officials

City officials in Philadelphia have issued a warning to residents stating that they should refrain from turning empty dumpsters into street-level swimming pools.

Last weekend, attendees at the Cedar Street Block Party rented a dumpster, filled it with fire hydrant water and had a pool party, and now the city has issued a statement warning residents that such activity will be met with consequences, Billy Penn reported. The letter said that, in the future, no block party permits will be issued for that particular portion of Cedar Street.

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“We are not screwing around, Philly,” a statement fromKaren Guss, communications directorfor the Department of Licenses and Inspections, was quoted by Billy Penn. “The city strongly recommends that residents opt for recreational options that are safer, more sanitary and less likely to deplete the resources firefighters need in an emergency.”

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The tapping of the fire hydrant drew the most attention from the city, which the letter underscored by making several points to deter people from such behavior,Philly.comstated. The city argued that illegally tapping hydrants would deplete water reserved for extinguishing fires, risk injury to people hit by the high-pressure water or cause water main breaks.

The Cedar Street block party did not obtain a permit for having a dumpster on the street, city spokesman Mike Dunn said to Philly.com, adding that draining 24,000 pounds of water in such a situation could cause flooding, property damage or sewer overload.

“It is extremely important that people understand a fire hydrant truly has one purpose,” community relations manager John DiGiulio said to Billy Penn,”and that is to provide water in case of a fire.”