By Mark van der Feyst
There is a great responsibility placed upon the person assigned to securing the hydrant. You will need tools to help set up the hydrant for water delivery.
A common place for staging tools seems to be the ground around the hydrant. This area is a bad choice for tools or appliances. The ground around hydrants can be a black hole with tall grass, wet lands, mud, snow, ditches, and even darkness at night.
With all of these common features present at most hydrants, losing your tools can be very easy. It does not take long for a gate valve or a hydrant wrench to go missing when thrown aside in a hurried operation.
The best place for your tools will be either on top of the hydrant or right at the base of it. As you can see in the photo, the hydrant wrench is placed on top of the stem and kept there at all times along with the other appliances needed at the base.
When taking off the caps, also place them at the base of the hydrant; it serves as a good landmark for tools and appliances, ensuring that they will not get lost.
