Absolutely! If you don’t they will leak under ground, some sort of freeze protection I’m told. Our permit specifies that when we open a hydrant we open it all the way. May be different up North, something I’d check into.
On dry barrel hydrants which are used where temperatures drop below freezing the valve for the hydrant is located at the bottom of the barrel below ground. There is a drain hole at the bottom of the barrel. When a hydrant is open all the way the drain is blocked preventing the water from coming out the drain. If the hydrant is not opened all the way water flows out out the drain and washes out the gravel and soil from around the hydrant causing big problems.
Also there are different size fittings on hydrants. Typically the side Ports are 2 1/2" NST. (national standard thread). This varies though. Around here Chicago has 2 1/2" but the threads per inch are different. Its close but not the same. Some towns use 2 3/8" This has been an issue for over 100 years in the fire service and while it has gotten better there’s still issues.
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Great Info Steve!
Yes that’s correct the hydrant must be open all the way. We used them in the past at construction sites where multiple lines were running off of the hydrant to different areas at the site. The on off valves that split off those lines didn’t have to be open all the way. I guess I should have been more clear on that.
As for today we have the permit and in my area the piping had to be set up on my truck to code which the county inspected and then we get the yearly permit. Without the permit here you can not touch a hydrant.
We work off of hydrants on a daily basis. we carry three different meters for the three water departments in our area. That cost us about 6000 dollars in deposits and roughly 40 per month per meter. Don’t get caught pulling from a hydrant without a meter or you will get fined a hefty sum. Orlando window you can go to amazon hose and they can help you out with what you need.
