New Paint on Tap for City of Cartersville Fire Hydrants

In the city of Cartersville, passerbys will start seeing a new color scheme painted on fire hydrants, according to a press release, which reads: 

For many years all of the hydrants have been painted yellow and silver and that is now changing to enhance the safety of the community and firefighters. 

Cartersville Fire Chief Scott Carter explained, “During fire emergencies, firefighters have to make rapid tactical decisions on the best way to attack the fire and water supply is a critical part of that decision making. This new color system will allow firefighters to have better information for those decisions. 

“The National Fire Protection Association Standard 291 dictates a specific color code system that allows firefighters to quickly access the quantity of water that is available for a fire fight. In addition, the color coding gains us additional credit with the Insurance Service Organization (ISO) in community risk rating that has a direct impact on our ISO Class and the amount of premiums our citizens are charged. It is a win-win for all involved.”

For the last four years Cartersville Fire Department and the Cartersville Water Department have worked together diligently to pressure test and flow the hydrant system within the city. This aids both departments to keep the system working at an optimal level if it is needed during an emergency. 

They have obtained sufficient data city-wide to aid in strategic planning for improvements of the system. 

One example of these improvements is the current water line upgrades that are on-going on Tennessee Street. 

This testing is now an annual event which rotates to different parts of the city each flow season and allows the departments to have flow data that is at a minimum of five years old. 

Currently there are 1,446 fire hydrants within the Cartersville system, so on an average year, just fewer than 300 hydrants are pressure tested. 

Fire Chief Carter stated, “All hydrants are inspected and maintained each year, we just preform pressure testing every five years. This allows us with good approximate data to work from and does not over tax the water system.”

Cartersville Battalion Chief Ray King, who oversees the hydrant program for Cartersville Fire, explained that the department is currently painting certain sections of the city with the new system. 

This is a pilot program for quality purposes. This will last until the winter weather arrives and then in the spring the remaining portions of the city will be painted to the new color code system. 

It is anticipated that all city of Cartersville hydrants will be NFPA and ISO compliant by June 1, 2014.

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