Last night, a photographer friend alerted me to a slow leak in SOHO that he thought might be blog-worthy (BTW, after conversations last year regarding the curious and ubiquitous standpipe this friend got on a hydrant/standpipe kick and shot quite a number of excellent photos - click here to see his gallery.) We have been in a cold-snap in NYC the last few days and at 16 F, water moves quite slowly, hence the photo. In July of course, we see a different scenario - click here. I suppose a question that comes to mind is why fire hydrants don't normally freeze in the winter. The answer is there is no water in the hydrant and the valve is below the frost line. Water is supplied to the hydrant via a riser which is controlled by a valve rod, which in turn is controlled with that special pentagonal nut (using a large wrench and matching socket). Hydrants are also equipped with an anti-siphon valve, so that any water remaining in the hydrant drains back into the ground. This is the theory. In practice, we find defiant hydrants like those in the photo ...
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Defiant Hydrant
Last night, a photographer friend alerted me to a slow leak in SOHO that he thought might be blog-worthy (BTW, after conversations last year regarding the curious and ubiquitous standpipe this friend got on a hydrant/standpipe kick and shot quite a number of excellent photos - click here to see his gallery.) We have been in a cold-snap in NYC the last few days and at 16 F, water moves quite slowly, hence the photo. In July of course, we see a different scenario - click here. I suppose a question that comes to mind is why fire hydrants don't normally freeze in the winter. The answer is there is no water in the hydrant and the valve is below the frost line. Water is supplied to the hydrant via a riser which is controlled by a valve rod, which in turn is controlled with that special pentagonal nut (using a large wrench and matching socket). Hydrants are also equipped with an anti-siphon valve, so that any water remaining in the hydrant drains back into the ground. This is the theory. In practice, we find defiant hydrants like those in the photo ...
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5 comments:
Let's hope there are no fires around anytime soon...
Interesting info about the mechanics of a hydrant.
Great photo - great title.
Jilly x
isabella - yes, it would be interesting to see the fire department deal with this.
jilly - thanks.
Brian
Luv the contrast between winter and summer!
And the thing is... that when it's -16 degrees... the summer shot seems like paradise. And when it's 104 degrees... you'd give anything for just 5 minutes of the winter scene.
Odd & ironic... but just natural I guess.
this is a really interesting picture. it would never happen here in south east asia, unless ice-man strikes and his magic powers freeze the hydrants! :-p
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