Fire hydrants
Fire hydrants installed on our network are for the use of emergency services only, in the event of a fire or other emergency.
Alongside the Fire Service, we are responsible for maintaining more than 119,000 fire hydrants. Damage caused to hydrants from unauthorised use can severely impact how well emergency services can protect life and property.
Legal standpipes can be used to take water from our network, but only from wash-out hydrants.
Identifying fire hydrants
Fire hydrants are found in pavements, roads and verges on public and private land.
Hydrants can be identified in several different ways:
Chamber lids
Usually painted yellow with wording or markings such as ‘Fire hydrant’, ‘FH’, ‘Thames Water’, ‘TW’. These will be located on pavements and roads. Not all hydrants are painted, especially older ones and those in high usage areas.
Fire hydrant chamber with a yellow lid
A non-metallic fire hydrant chamber
Misuse of fire hydrants
Under Section 42(6) of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, it is an offence to connect to a fire hydrant for anything other than the purposes of an emergency service, or any purpose allowed by the owner of the hydrant.
We strictly monitor how connections are made to our network. If we find evidence of illegal connections, we may prosecute under Section 174(3) of the Water Industry Act 1991 and Section 42(6) of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004.
Legal standpipes
To connect legally to our network, you must apply for a licence and hire an authorised, metered standpipe from our service provider, Aquam. Authorised standpipes an only be used to take water from wash-out hyrdrants.