Builder hooking into street fire hydrants

ando

Guys, quick question (sorry if this is inappropriate for this forum but I cant find much online for this query)

Came home today to find our mains water supply to be orange/brown. My other half drank some of it by mistake and is feeling burning sensation in throat. We found that builders are the cause of this. They are building something for one of the neighbors a few houses down the road. They hooked up their equipment to the street fire hydrant and used the water to fill up some bins. We believe this is what caused the water to change. All our neighbors are the same.

We confronted the builders and they said "There's a new law that lets us do this"... and "run your water for 20mins and you'll be fine"...

My question is, is it illegal for anyone to hook into fire hydrants other than the fire brigade? Because I feel this guy completely made this up to fob us off

westdub

From ....... FIRE SERVICES ACT, 1981

Damage to fire hydrant.
31.—Any person who interferes with, damages or obstructs a fire hydrant or any apparatus for drawing water from a main for the purpose of fire-fighting otherwise than in connection with operations of a fire brigade or for any purpose authorised by the sanitary authority shall be guilty of an offence.

5.—(1) A person guilty of an offence under this Act (other than an offence to which subsection (2) applies) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

lighterman

ando wrote: »

Guys, quick question (sorry if this is inappropriate for this forum but I cant find much online for this query)

Came home today to find our mains water supply to be orange/brown. My other half drank some of it by mistake and is feeling burning sensation in throat. We found that builders are the cause of this. They are building something for one of the neighbors a few houses down the road. They hooked up their equipment to the street fire hydrant and used the water to fill up some bins. We believe this is what caused the water to change. All our neighbors are the same.

We confronted the builders and they said "There's a new law that lets us do this"... and "run your water for 20mins and you'll be fine"...

My question is, is it illegal for anyone to hook into fire hydrants other than the fire brigade? Because I feel this guy completely made this up to fob us off

The water is constantly running if its the water mains. They probably have a Stan pipe and hose connected to it. I can't see how anything could contaminate your water supply.

I'm also confused how your partner drank orange/Brown water. Did they not look down at the water to turn of the tap or look to see how much was in the glass before switching it off.

oscar2

Sediment builds up in main and use of hydrant can disturb this and contaminate household supplies.Solution is for hydrant user to run hydrant at full flow until water runs clear.Builder obviously didn't do this.

hallo dare

Chances are it will rectify itself if the water isn't disturbed by the builders again. As mentioned above sediment builds up in the pipes over time and rests on the bottom. With the sudden high pressure release of water by the builders this sediment was disturbed and now floats throughout the mains. It will settle once again, provided the demand for water is low enough not to stir it up.

Bistoman

I think this is related, I cant find any other tread that covers it, But I noticed a brown tint in my tap water last week, and a few times after. I had a hunch what the problem was, Then I noticed a few lads in a jeep offering to clean driveways in the area, I'll say no more on that.
But they ware filling a massive water tank at the back of the jeep directly from the mains at the Hydrant. They tried to say that the fire mains was different from the household mains ( I studied Civil engineering for 5 years, So that didn't wash with Me) I think that they may have believed it themselves. I told them to Sling it.. and if they came back I would be calling the Garda. But here is the thing, Who do I call? The garda was a bluff, They have enough to be doing, But is it Dublin City Council? Or do I need to be talking to Irish Water?

flazio

I imagine Irish Water might be a good start. Without wanting to hold the political hot potato, it is their infrastructure and their product that is being stolen.