Skip to main content

Not all fire hydrants are red — here's what each different color means

By

Red, yellow, violet— fire hydrants come in many different colors. But it's not for decoration. These colors have an important meaning that could just save your life one day. Following is a transcript of the video.

What do fire hydrant colors mean? Certain colors are meant for different types of fires. Each color represents a different GPM or Gallons Per Minute. Higher GPMs are meant for larger fires.

Here are the 4 most popular colors, and the biggest fires they can extinguish. To calculate the GPM necessary for the size of a fire, you can take the volume of the fire and divide it by 100. So, if you have a two-story house that is 20 feet tall, 50 feet long, and 50 feet wide, then you're going to need ([20*50*50]/100=500) 500 GPM. 

Red: 500 GPM or less, for a 2-story house that's 50 ft by 50 ft and 20 ft tall.
Orange: 500-1,000 GPM, for a 4-story house that's 50 ft by 50 ft and 40 ft tall.
Green: 1000-1500 GPM, for a 4-story house that's 61 by 61 and 40 ft tall.
Blue: 1500 GPM or more, for a 4-story house that's 70 by 70 feet and 40 ft tall.

Some colors don't always refer to GPM. Yellow indicates that the water comes from a public supply system. Violet means the water comes from a lake or pond. While most areas follow this color scheme, some choose to make up their own system. Either way, fire hydrants may stick out like a sore thumb but those bright colors are chosen with your safety in mind.

Join the conversation about this story »



from Tech Insider http://ift.tt/2AqBn9X
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Instagram accidentally reinstated Pornhub’s banned account

By
After years of on-and-off temporary suspensions, Instagram permanently banned Pornhub’s account in September. Then, for a short period of time this weekend, the account was reinstated. By Tuesday, it was permanently banned again. “This was done in error,” an Instagram spokesperson told TechCrunch. “As we’ve said previously, we permanently disabled this Instagram account for repeatedly violating our policies.” Instagram’s content guidelines prohibit  nudity and sexual solicitation . A Pornhub spokesperson told TechCrunch, though, that they believe the adult streaming platform’s account did not violate any guidelines. Instagram has not commented on the exact reasoning for the ban, or which policies the account violated. It’s worrying from a moderation perspective if a permanently banned Instagram account can accidentally get switched back on. Pornhub told TechCrunch that its account even received a notice from Instagram, stating that its ban had been a mistake (that message itse...
Post a Comment
Read more

Colorado police identified the serial killer who murdered 4 women 40 years ago after exhuming his body to analyze a DNA sample

By
A scientist examines computer images of DNA models. Getty Images Police in Colorado have cracked the cold cases of four women killed 40 years ago. Denver PD said genetic genealogy and DNA analysis helped them identify the serial killer. He had died by suicide in jail in 1981. DNA from his exhumed body matched evidence from the murders. Police in Colorado have cracked the code on four murder cases that went unsolved for 40 years, using DNA from the killer's exhumed body. The cases pertain to four women killed in the Denver metro area between 1978 and 1981. They were 33-year-old Madeleine Furey-Livaudais, 53-year-old Dolores Barajas, 27-year-old Gwendolyn Harris, and 17-year-old Antoinette Parks. The four women were stabbed to death. Denver Police Commander Matt Clark said in a press conference Friday that there was an "underlying sexual component" to the murders but didn't elaborate further. In 2009, a detective reviewed Parks' case and picked several p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gemini vs. ChatGPT: Which one planned my wedding better?

By
I was all about the wedding bells after getting engaged in June, but after seeing some of these wedding venue quotes, it’s more like alarm bells. "Ding-dong" has been remixed to "cha-ching" – and I need help. I don’t even know how to begin wedding planning. What are the first steps? What do I need to prioritize first? Which tasks are pressing – and which can wait a year or two? I decided to enlist the help of an AI assistant. Taking it one step further, I thought it’d be interesting to see which chatbot – Gemini Advanced or ChatGPT Plus (i.e., ChatGPT 4o) – is the better wedding planner. Gemini vs ChatGPT: Create a to-do list I’m planning on have my wedding in the summer of 2026 – sometime between August and September. Besides that, I don’t have anything else nailed down, so I asked both Gemini and ChatGPT to give me a to-do list based on the following prompt: “My wedding is between August 2026 and September 2026. Give me a to-do list of things to do for the...
Post a Comment
Read more