Fire hydrants save lives whenever there’s a building fire. It’s important to maintain them properly to make sure they work when they need to work. Proper fire hydrant maintenance includes using a tool like a valve exerciser to ensure that the fire hydrant valve can be opened when it needs to be opened to fight a fire.
A valve exerciser is a piece of equipment that opens and closes a valve to make sure that when it needs to be opened or closed, it doesn’t get stuck in one position or the other. When it comes to fire hydrants, you definitely want to be sure their valves will open when you need them to. A delay of even a few seconds opening the valve that lets water flow through the fire hose can make the difference between saving a building or not, or between saving a life or not.
Fire hydrants should be checked once a year or more often to ensure they’re working properly. You should always use a fire hydrant wrench to open and close the vents. Using a pipe wrench or other type of wrench can distort the nut that opens the hydrant to the point that a fire hydrant wrench will no longer work.
Some people may think that the water that comes out of fire hydrants comes from the sewer system, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Fire hydrants are hooked up to the same system your kitchen sink is. That makes it safer for the fire department to put out house fires. You wouldn’t want water from the sewer system all over your house. The clean-up would be a nightmare.
Using a valve exerciser to quickly and repeatedly open and close the fire hydrant nut will ensure that the hydrant will work when the time comes. Working fire hydrants are vital to public safety, saving both property and people from fires.
