Your Pool or Lake Can Be Your Fire Hydrant: How Drafting Works

Firefighters call it drafting: pulling water from a pool, pond or lake when there's no hydrant. Here's how it works, how to set it up before fire season, and what it looked like at Lake Sherwood.

Por Sherwin Ross
2 min de lectura
From the lake to the house: Honda WH20 drafting from Lake Sherwood – Ace Fire Defense

Firefighters have a word for pulling water from a pool, pond or lake: drafting. Fire apparatus do it when there's no hydrant nearby. With the right pump, a homeowner can do it too.

Here's what it looks like at Lake Sherwood. The Honda WH20 sits on the dock, pulls water straight from the lake, and the hose climbs about 40 feet up the hillside to the house:

How Drafting Works

A pump doesn't really "suck" water. It creates low pressure inside the suction hose, and the weight of the air pushing down on the lake or pool surface pushes water up into the pump. The pump then puts that water under pressure and sends it out through your fire hose.

That has two practical lessons:

  • Keep the pump close to the water. The less height between the water surface and the pump, the easier it drafts and the better it performs. Push the water uphill on the pressure side, like we did at Lake Sherwood, not on the suction side.
  • The suction hose must be airtight. A loose fitting or cracked hose lets air in and the pump loses its prime. Use a stiff, non-collapsing suction hose with a strainer on the end to keep leaves and debris out of the pump.

Setting Up Before Fire Season

  1. Pick your spot. Choose a level place right next to the pool or water's edge where the pump can stay or be wheeled into place quickly.
  2. Connect the suction side. Attach the suction hose and strainer, and drop the strainer into the water so it stays fully submerged.
  3. Connect the discharge side. A brass thread adapter connects the pump to standard 1.5" fire hose, then lay your hose out to where you'll fight embers.
  4. Prime and start. Fill the pump body with water, start the engine, and let it pull water through.
  5. Practice. Run the whole drill now, on a calm day, so you know every step by heart before a Red Flag Warning.
  6. Keep it ready. Fresh fuel, oil checked, and hose stored where you can reach it fast.

The Gear

We'll Set It Up for You

Within our local service area around West Hills, installation and hands-on training are free. We'll set your pump up at your pool or water source and drill with you until you're confident. Call 213/884-8448 to confirm your area is covered.

Your pool or lake can be your own fire hydrant. Get it ready before an ember lands.

DRAFTINGHOMEOWNER PREPAREDNESSHONDA WH20LAKE SHERWOODPOOL PUMP FIRE DEFENSEWILDFIRE DEFENSE