Brazil City Fire Department

2004 Hydrant Report                                                                                       09NOV04

 

                       

            In October of this year the City Fire Department preformed its annual hydrant checks on the City’s 250 hydrants. This annual practice gathers information such as residual pressures and flow rates, or gallons per minutes, on each of the City’s hydrants identifying hydrants that are no longer serviceable. This year additional information was collected to identify problems within the water distribution system to study possible solutions and their cost. Working with Dick Vanatti from the City Water department, we mapped supply line location, size and grid layout to better analyze the distribution system in order to obtain residual pressure and flow information. Residual pressure represents the pressure that is left in a distribution system with one or more hydrants flowing in the same vicinity. The department can use this information to better calculate the total amount of water available within a specific area.

 

Individual hydrant make, model and age was also collected. This information helped to identify outdated models in which service and replacement parts can no longer be obtained. I contacted the City’s Distribution Supervisor, John Ray, for information on the cost and problems associated with individual hydrant replacement. One company, Waterous Co. hydrants can be purchased with 4 ½” Storz connections added to quickly use the department’s large diameter 5” line. The 5” large diameter hose line increases the water supply volume by six (6) times the standard 2 ½” supply hose line. Storz conversion kits can also be purchased from Waterous to convert hydrants with a standard steamer connection to a Storz connection. Storz connections or steamer connections hydrants are recommended for a 6” diameter City distribution supply line or larger.

 

            One of the obstacles in replacing out of service hydrants is the lack of water distribution valves in the system itself, which requires that the entire system to be shut down for hydrant replacement. A Hydra Tapper valve is one solution which would allow for the insulation of a new hydrant without shutting system down. The cost of each valve is $2,350.00 and one hydrant replacement may require up to three (3) valves greatly increasing replacement cost. 

 

            With improvements projected for City streets and sidewalk, coordinated efforts for water distribution improvements and hydrant replacement should be considered. City hydrants are being serviced and replaced, but the quantity of ageing hydrants makes this task a challenging one. Each year the number of hydrants replaced or repaired is slightly outnumbered by the amount of hydrants that are slowly deteriorating out of service.       

              

 

 

 

Hydrant marking and flow classification

 

Color coding the City’s hydrants is based on the water flow available or gallons per minute (GPM). NFPA 291 is used as a guideline for marking this information on the hydrant itself. 

Class                GPM                            Color 

 

AA                   1500 or greater            Light Blue

 A                    1000-1499                   Green

 B                     500-999                       Orange/Yellow

                         C                    Less than 500               Red

 

Black hydrants identify an out of service hydrant.

 

 

Brazil City Hydrant model information

 

Hydra Tapper Valve