Fire hydrants are an essential feature of fire safety. During a fire, they provide much-needed assistance for you to take it out. City Hydrants and Private Hydrants are the two different kinds of fire hydrants available out there. It’s critical for a property manager or owner’s representative to understand the distinction and the owner’s maintenance obligations.
What are City Hydrants?
City hydrants are those that are on public property and the city is responsible for maintaining the hydrants. Since they are positioned to make it easy for the fire department to get them, they will be the most prevalent since they are found on public land and roadways.
What are Private Hydrants?
Private hydrants are ones that are on privately owned land that the owner maintains. The International Fire Code mandates that private fire hydrants provide the appropriate water supply for fire protection. When the building or property is too far away from the nearest public fire hydrant for the fire department to reach to combat a fire, private fire hydrants are built.
Examining, testing, and maintaining private fire heaters
The NFPA 25 Standard for Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems is outlined below. Every year, flow tests on private fire hydrants are necessary to remove any foreign objects from the private service main. This is carried out because extraneous objects, such as pebbles, might sometimes enter the Fireline and obstruct it.
Additionally, it enables the ITM provider to see any possible issues before they worsen. NFPA 25’s Chapter 7 addresses private fire service mains as well as the maintenance, testing, and inspection of individual fire hydrants. The tasks listed below are not an exhaustive list of all that has to be done; rather, they constitute an overview. For an exhaustive inventory, kindly reach out to a specialist.
Inspecting the Fire Hydrant
- Conduct yearly and post-operative inspections.
- Every year, exposed piping must be examined.
- Inspections of underground pipelines should follow 7.2.2.2 Testing
Testing the Fire Hydrant
- Fire hydrants need to be flowed annually.
- Each hydrant must be opened completely, and water flowed until all foreign material has cleared and flow shall be maintained for not less than 1 minute.
- Following operation, wall hydrants and dry barrels need to be checked for appropriate barrel drainage, which should take no more than 60 minutes to complete.
- Subterranean and exposed pipelines need to undergo flow tests at least every five years.
Maintenance of Fire Hydrant
Hydrants must be kept free of snow, ice, and other materials, as well as protected from mechanical damage to guarantee free access. Hydrants must also be lubricated once a year to guarantee that all stems, caps, plugs, and threads are in good working order.