Automated System Speeds Hydrant Flow Testing

The Fire Flow Pro system from Hurco Technologies Inc. quickly and accurately tests, records and manages critical fire-flow data for fire hydrants.

The Fire Flow Pro system from Hurco Technologies Inc. quickly and accurately tests, records and manages critical fire-flow data for fire hydrants.

Traditional hydrant testing requires two workers and takes about an hour per hydrant. The Fire Flow Pro requires one operator because it uses wireless technology to transmit data from the test hydrant, notes Lynn Hurley, Hurco president.

“You can do at least six hydrants per hour instead of one, and you need only one person to do it,” he says. “If a city has 10,000 fire hydrants, you don’t want to take an hour per hydrant for testing.”

The system automatically captures critical data, such as location, static pressure, residual pressure, predicted flow at 20 psi, total gpm, total gallons used in the test and NFPA classification that workers can later download onto a computer. This eliminates manual data entry and calculation.

“There’s no need to go back to the office and run numbers,” Hurley says. “You record all the data on the computer by just hitting the ‘Save’ button.” The system records each hydrant’s GPS coordinates, which can be entered onto a municipal GIS map, making it easier for firefighters to locate hydrants.

Because the actual testing takes seconds, municipalities can save tens of thousands of gallons of water per year. The system accurately demonstrates which hydrants meet NFPA water flow standards and provides insurance companies with verifiable hydrant data.

Municipalities can use the system to perform regular spring and fall hydrant flushing and hydrant tests at the same time. 800/888-1436; www.hurcotech.com; Expo booth 41.



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