FIRE HYDRANT COLOR CODE TABLE

FIRE HYDRANT COLOR CODE TABLE

You may have noticed that fire hydrants are not all the same color. What you are seeing is the color assigned to each hydrant to convey how well it performs as a source of water for firefighting and other uses. The color denotes how much water is available from the hydrant in GPM Gallons Per Minute and other information needed by the fire crews to set up the hoses to put out fires. Some hydrants are all one color and others have caps colored differently from the body and some will have symbols painted on them to identify Regulated Zones. Some water supplies are in Regulated Pressure Zones, that means that the supply of water pressure is regulated and firefighters must shut the water down slowly to prevent damage to water mains and regulator devices in the area. The table below shows some of the most commonly used hydrant color code markings.

BODY COLORS WHITE HYDRANT PUBLIC SYSTEM EBMUD YELLOW HYDRANT PRIVATE SYSTEM CONNECTED TO PUBLIC WATER MAIN RED HYDRANT SPECIAL OPERATION NOT USED EXCEPT FOR SPECIAL PROCEDURES VIOLET HYDRANT NON POTABLE SUPPLY POND OR LAKE SUPPLY, EFFUENT TOP COLORS (NFPA) BLUE 1500 GPM or MORE VERY GOOD FLOW GREEN 1000-1499 GPM GOOD FOR RESIDENTIAL AREAS ORANGE 500-999 GPM ADEQUATE MARGINALLY RED BELOW 500 GPM INADEQUATE ALTERNATE OUTLET CAP COLORS (NOT NFPA) GREEN OVER 120 PSI (Pound Per Square Inch) EXTREMELY HIGH PRESSURE (CAUTION) ORANGE 50-120 PSI NORMAL PRESSURE RANGE RED BELOW 50 PSI REQUIRES A PUMP REGULATED MAINS MARKING ORANGE ARROW (->) INDICATES DIRECTION OF WATER FLOW ON A DEAD END MAIN ORANGE ARROW AND VERTICAL BAR (->I) INDICATES LAST HYDRABT AND DIRECTION OF WATER FLOW ON DEAD END MAIN ORANGE “R” IN CIRCLE ® INDICATES HYDRANT IS ON A REGULATED PRESSURE ZONE

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