Many rural property owners do not have the luxury of having pressurized water systems and a fire hydrant on every corner in their communities. Rural fire hydrants can provide the same level of fire protection for rural families that pressurized fire hydrants provide to urban property owners.

A trench is dug at a pre-determined depth below water level to the location where the hydrant head is to be positioned

Rural fire hydrant systems, otherwise known as "dry hydrants," which are non-pressurized fire hydrants that can be installed on farm ponds, lakes, streams, rivers or below-ground tanks.

The heart of the rural hydrant system is the head assembly and external strainer assembly. The head assembly provides the fire department with the appropriate NST thread connection, which allows the firefighters to connect their suction hose to the hydrant system and pump water. The strainer is the intake device, which is affixed to the end of the pipe and is positioned at an optimal location in the water source.

These products are constructed of 6" Schedule 40 PVC, stainless steel, bronze, aluminum and polymer parts that are all non-corrosive materials. 6" Schedule 40 PVC pipe is used to connect the strainer to the head assembly.

Dry fire hydrants are basically used in rural fire fighting two different ways. First, if a dry hydrant is located within a few hundred feet of the fire site, fire hoses can be stretched from a fire truck to a burning structure and water can be pumped directly from the water source to fight the fire. 

Second, if the fire site is located beyond the reach of fire hoses, tanker trucks can be filled at a dry hydrant site and water can be shuttled to the location of the fire. A network of dry hydrants, one every three square miles, is required to reduce the travel time of tanker trucks and promote an efficient water shuttle operation.

 Click on image to enlarge                     Click on image to enlarge

Benefits of Rural Hydrants

Dry fire hydrant systems can be plumbed several hundred feet from water sources to all weather roadways, allowing fire departments to pump water quickly and easily. Dry fire hydrants enable fire departments to use untreated water to fight fires instead of treated water, saving money, saving energy and protecting utility water systems. Dry hydrants are economical to install and can be used to supplement pressurized hydrants for large demand situations. In some cases, dry fire hydrants can lower home owner insurance premiums. Insurance agents and fire chiefs should be consulted to evaluate potential savings.

For more information on Dry Fire Hydrants contact  your community's Volunteer Fire Department or Contact your County Commissioner for Assistance.

 Click on image to enlarge

The system is assembled aboveground and lowered into the trench. The strainer is positioned in the water.

 Click on image to enlarge

The trench is then backfilled and the water remains in the pipe all the way to the vertical rise because the horizontal pipe is below water level.

Once installed, the fire department can connect to the hydrant head and start pumping water within seconds.

A community-wide savings ...

In August 1993, Mountain Rest, South Carolina, a small rural community of approximately 2,000 families, experienced a community-wide increase in cash flow. Starting that August, approximately $200,000 a year would be channeled into the community. This was a result of the Mountain Rest Volunteer Fire Department ISO rating re-classification from an ISO Class 9 to a Class 7.

The Mountain Rest Volunteer Fire Department was well trained. They had the manpower and equipment requirements to be rated much lower than an ISO Class 9, but they were lacking in one very important area-rural water supply.

The difference between a Class 9 and a Class 7 from an insurance standpoint, is approximately a 40% savings on homeowners' premiums. This savings, community-wide, has been estimated to be approximately $200,000 a year.

The material cost and labor expense for the installation of these 13 dry fire hydrant systems was less than $20,000.

This Homepage was prepared by Kenneth F. Hambrick, Polk County Coordinator. Contact at E-Mail address: webmaster@pcoem.org for additional information about our program. The information contained in this Homepage is considered public domain and the Office of Emergency Management encourages interested persons to utilize any portions of it that might be of educational benefit or enhance their local programs.

Back to HomePage