A History of the Fire Hydrant

Until about 1800, fire hydrants were non-existent and firemen relied on rivers, ponds, horse troughs, and wells for their water supply.  This worked as long as towns were small, but the enormous growth of American cities, many of which doubled in population every 20 years or so, required better water supplies.  In 1800, Philadelphia built steam-powered waterworks that supplied a crude network of buried wooden pipes.  Firemen located a pipe, drilled a hole into it, and built a dam around the now spurting pipe for use. 

Soon firemen were screwing portable fire hydrants into a drilled hole and connecting the hydrant to the engine's suction hose.  After the fire, a plug was tamped into the hole in the pipe.  This is the origin of the term "fireplug".  By 1850 most American cities had underground water supply systems with permanent fire hydrants.  European firefighters still carry portable hydrants which they connect to fittings in water lines buried beneath street level.  In American towns and villages, the water supply was usually restricted to ponds and streams, but a few towns built strategically located underground cisterns and kept them filled with water for use at fires. 

Most fire hydrant valves are not designed to throttle the water flow; they are designed to be operated full-on or full-off.  The valving arrangement of most dry-barrel hydrants is for the drain not to be open at anything other than full operation.  When operating a hydrant, a firefighter typically wears appropriate personal protective equipment.  High-pressure water coursing through a potentially aging and corroding hydrant could cause a failure, injuring the firefighter operating the hydrant or bystanders.

In most areas of the United States, contractors who need temporary water may purchase permits to use hydrants.  Additionally, residents who wish to use the hydrant to fill their in-ground swimming pool are commonly permitted to do so, provided they pay for the water and agree to allow firefighters to draft from their pool in case of an emergency.  Fire hydrants may be used also to supply riot control vehicles.  These vehicles use a high-pressure water cannon to discourage rioting. 

Hydrant coloring may be due to either purely practical criteria or more artistic.  Typically, different colors are used to identify the classes of fire hydrants.  Classes are determined by the capacity of water pressure or gallons per minute of each hydrant.  

In big snow country, hydrants have poles attached to them to help locate them when buried in the snow.

Compiled by Fire Truck World, 2015

For more information on fire hydrants, please visit:

Fire Hydrant.eu:  https://fire-hydrant.eu/

Inspect Point:  https://www.inspectpoint.com/fire-hydrant/

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