Every water company has a duty to provide water we use to fight fire. We access the water network through fire hydrants right across London, which need regular inspection and maintenance to ensure that we can access water when we need it to keep you safe.
Our fire crews inspect the hydrants between March and October. Any repairs required are reported to London Fire Brigade Water Team who send a hydrant technician to repair the hydrant. If a major repair or hydrant renewal is required these are passed to the relevant water company to repair on our behalf. London fire hydrants are served by four different water companies, Thames Water, Affinity Water, Sutton & East Surrey Water and Essex & Suffolk Water. We liaise with the water companies to keep our hydrants working.
If there is a fire, we need to be sure that hydrants work properly and there is an adequate supply of water. As the network is huge – and some date right back to the 1930s – it’s really important to perform regular inspections.
"We inspect over 30,000 hydrants a year on a rolling schedule. That way every hydrant in London is checked at least once every 4 years. It’s just one of the ways we’re quietly working behind the scenes, keeping Londoners safe."
If you see a problem with a fire hydrant let us know at water@london-fire.gov.uk