Fire Hydrant - Inspection and Maintenance

Inspection and Maintenance

In most areas fire hydrants require annual inspections and maintenance — they normally only have a one-year warranty, but some have 5- or even 10-year warranties, although the longer warranty does not remove the need for periodic inspections or maintenance. These inspections are generally performed by the local municipalities but they often do not inspect hydrants that are identified as private. Private hydrants are usually located on larger properties to adequately protect large buildings in case of a fire and in order to comply with the fire code. Such hydrants have met the requirements of insurance underwriters and are often referred to as UL/FM hydrants. Some companies are contracted out to inspect private fire hydrants unless the municipality has undertaken that task.

Some fire hydrant manufacturers recommend lubricating the head mechanism and restoring the head gaskets and O-rings annually in order that the fire hydrant perform the service expected of them, while others have incorporated proprietary features to provide long-term lubrication of the hydrant's operating mechanism. In any case, periodic inspection of lubricates is recommended. Lubrication is generally done with a food-grade non-petroleum lubricant to avoid contamination of the distribution system.

Occasionally a stone or foreign object will mar the seat gasket. In this case, most hydrants have a special seat wrench that allows removal of the seat to replace the gasket or other broken parts without removing the hydrant from the ground. Hydrant extensions are also available for raising a hydrant if the grade around the hydrant changes. Without extending the height, the wrenches to remove caps would not clear and the break flanges for traffic models would not be located correctly in case they were hit. Hydrant repair kits are also available to repair sacrificial parts designed to break when hit by a vehicle.

Many departments use the hydrants for flushing out water line sediments. When doing so, they often use a hydrant diffuser, a device that diffuses the water so that it does not damage property and is less dangerous to bystanders than a solid stream. Some diffusers also dechlorinate the water to avoid ground contamination. Hydrants are also sometimes used as entry or exit points for pipe cleaning pigs.