Fire hydrants maintenance

Making sure there are enough fire hydrants in Suffolk and that they are well maintained.

At Suffolk Fire Service, we aim to make sure that all fire hydrants across Suffolk are maintained to a high standard to ensure public health and safety.

To meet these objectives, we inspect each hydrant using an inspection programme. This allows for all factors relating to the hydrant to be recorded such as:

• frame and cover damage;
• leakage;
• missing plates; and
• risk assessment for the location.

We use the following processes to make sure hydrants continue to work and remain safe:

• Above ground inspection
  Pays attention to the hydrant frame, the cover, the surrounding surface and the hydrant indicator plate, which is checked for damage and to see if the information shown is correct.
• Below ground inspection
  Involves the hydrant pit and the hydrant itself. This will find any leakage which may effect the delivery of water for fire fighting purposes.
• Wet pressure testing
  Carried out if there are doubts about a hydrant’s performance. Checks the water flow to ensure the hydrant is working properly.
• Active community role
  We encourage contact from the general public in relation to problems or enquiries about fire hydrants. Reports of damaged fire-hydrant related equipment are inspected and repaired as soon as possible to make sure the hydrant performance is back on track. Enquiries will give an insight to how we work as a brigade and deal with fire related matters.
• Our regulations
  The Fire Service has a statutory duty to abide by the Fire Service Act 2004 Section 13 to secure water for the purpose of fire fighting. The Fire Service also makes sure that the recommendations made by Water UK are followed in accordance to the national guidance document for the provision of water for fire fighting 2007, which includes sections of the Water Act and the Fire Service Act 2004.