A fire hydrant weighs between 370 lbs to as much as 800 lbs.
Different fire hydrants weigh different amounts and some fire hydrants are made of aluminum while others are made of iron.
Aluminum fire hydrants will weigh less than an iron fire hydrant.
Many municipalities sell their old hydrants at scrap value, currently around $0.03 per pound, making the above ground section worth very little.
Typical prices paid to water departments for an old hydrant range from $5.00 to $35.00 in scrap fees.
A standard fire hydrant has two 2.5 inch- hose connection nozzles with 7.5 threads per inch, and one 4.5 inch-pumper connection nozzle with 4 threads per inch.
The hose connection nozzle, compared to the pumper connection nozzle, has a lower discharge pressure and can be used directly to fight fires.
The valve stem in a dry-barrel hydrant design is steel.
The valve stems in a wet-barrel hydrant are usually made from silicon bronze.
The hydrant outlets are molded in bronze. If the barrel is cast or ductile iron, the bronze outlets are threaded into the barrel.
The water inside a charged hose line causes it to be very heavy and high water pressure causes it to be stiff and unable to make a tight turn while pressurized.
Most fire hydrant valves are not designed to throttle the water flow; they are designed to be operated full-on or full-off.