FIRE HYDRANTS

[daveboy]

How come there arent any of the kind of hydrants that you see in the US in the UK. Do UK firemen tap straight into the water supply or what. am very curious.

[Jenny Tools]

Yes you've got it really. The UK don't have free standing water hydrants like the US. Ours are under small metal covers in the road or the pavement and is supplied by the water main.

[jills]

UK fire hydrants are painted yellow in most places...you should be able to spot them easily. Often there's a small plate on the wall indicating their exact position.

[Ninereeds]

yup, those 2 got it, there should be one really close to your house, well not to close but in the near proximity they have yellow lids sometimes and a little concrete err dunno sort of signpost saying its just there.

[trilobite]

As already answered, the hydrants are located in the ground. The yellow "H" hydrant signs are what you are most likely to notice. Mounted on a small post or nearby wall etc, the two numbers indicate the size of the water main in mm (top number) and the distance in metres from the sign (lower number).(Older signs may use imperial measurements)

[trilobite]

The lack of upright hydrants also means that car-chase scenes in British tv / films are rare, as they can't drive into fire hydrants a la Starsky & Hutch/every other TV cop series/hollywood blockbuster and set off a big fountain of water.