“There needs to be something done,” Salisbury Township Manager Randy Soriano said.

With that pronouncement and the consensus of the board of commissioners at the Aug. 25 township meeting, Soriano said he would contact Edward J. Boscola, Bethlehem director of water and sewer departments, to address continuing problems with low water hydrant pressure on the township’s east side.

Water there is supplied by the Bethlehem Water Authority, which owns the water system and leases it to the city.

Meanwhile, Salisbury Township Police Sgt. Donald Sabo, township fire marshal, isn’t waiting for a resolution between township and city officials.

Sabo told commissioners fire tanker trucks, of 3,000-gallons capacity each, from Upper Saucon Township and Lower Milford Township would now respond as first-alarm backup for fires in the east side’s First Ward, to provide a total of 6,000 gallons of water if needed.

It is believed low hydrant pressure hampered Eastern Salisbury Volunteer Fire Company firefighters in knocking down at least three fires in the last year that destroyed structures on the east side.

Sabo said box alarms on the east side have been re-calibrated to call for the backup tanker trucks on first alarm.

“We readjusted the box alarms to dispatch two tankers on first response,” Sabo explained to a reporter for The Press at the Aug. 25 meeting.

The topic of east side hydrant pressure was brought up at the Aug. 25 meeting by Robert Agonis, a member of the Salisbury Township Environmental Advisory Council Task Force, when he asked Commissioner Vice President Robert Martucci Jr., who represents the First Ward, about the status of the problem.

Members of Eastern Salisbury Fire Company aired the hydrant pressure problem at the April 28 township meeting.

The City of Bethlehem provides for water treatment, rate setting, payment collection, metering, pipeline repairs and all other operation and maintenance of the system, according to the Bethlehem Water Authority website. Stephen Repasch, of Fountain Hill, is authority executive director.

“You could put a booster tank there,” David J. Tettemer, of Keystone Consulting Engineers, Inc., township consulting engineer suggested. “That would have to be worked out with Bethlehem because it’s their system,” Tettemer added.

“The only thing to do is bring in pumpers,” Commissioner James Seagreaves, an Eastern Fire Company volunteer firefighter said.

“This issue has been an ongoing issue,” Soriano said, adding, “I think to really push the issue we need to meet with the City of Bethlehem.

“There needs to be a study done,” Soriano continued, and noted officials would need to “negotiate the cost” of improving hydrant water pressure.

“I will call Mr. Boscola and ask what the problem is and how much it would cost,” Soriano said.

“Is it cost-effective to put in a pumping station to service one area of about seven units?” Soriano wondered. “What is the fair way to assess the cost?”

“How do you put a cost on somebody’s house and the potential loss of a life?” Commissioner President James A. Brown asked, who authorized Soriano to contact Boscola.

The problem of east side hydrant pressure is thought to, in part, relate to east side topography, which between East Emmaus Avenue and East Susquehanna Street is roughly a trough bounded by Lehigh Mountain on the north and South Mountain on the south.

“Every time there’s a fire up there, there seems to be a problem with the water flow,” Eastern Salisbury Fire Company Chief Dave Tomcics said on behalf of a delegation of about eight firefighters at the April 28 township meeting.

In 2012, the Bethlehem Water Authority installed a new pumping station, estimated to cost $100,000, in the vicinity of Weil, Ritter, Summit and Wistar streets and Virginia Avenue on the township’s east side.

However, while the pumping station improved water pressure for taking showers, for example, in residents’ homes, it did not boost hydrant pressure for fighting fires.