Developing a Hydrant Database
Or
Getting Wet behind the Ears With GIS

To effectively manage a hydrant servicing system, database systems may be integrated with GIS to create a graphical interface that reduces errors and improves overall water system confidence

. The Kissimmee Fire Department is a 70-member department with 63 combat personnel that provides fire and emergency medical services to a population of approximately 50,000 residents, and a large transient tourist population. Our proximity to Walt Disney World has created a rapidly growing environment with daily challenges unique to our area. The City of Kissimmee made a commitment several years ago to develop an excellent fire rating to attract businesses and residents. As part of this effort, we have maintained a rating of ISO 2 on a scale of 10, with 10 being the lowest rating. This is a stringent rating system and we fall into less than 1% of the fire departments in the nation. The Insurance Services Organization, which evaluates fire departments, develops the ISO rating, and the rating is reflected in lower property insurance rates.
Forty percent of the scoring by ISO is related to the water system in the community. While we do not install and maintain the water system, we are tasked with maintenance and yearly testing of the hydrants for function and readiness.
During our yearly process of testing, we must flow each of the 1600 hydrants in the City, record static pressure, flow pressure, and determine actual flow. This is usually accomplished with on-duty crews in the normal course of the shift. For years, our data has been stored in an HTE A/S 400 system. This system is very effective for data storage, but difficult for visualizing areas of flow problems and is limited in hydrant location description.

Hydrant Flow HIstory on A/S400

While this had been a vexing problem for a long time, resulting in confusing and possibly missing data, we were guided by the GIS team within the City, Tony Curtis and Matt Cieri, to consider a new and more effective means of integrating data with a visual representation of the hydrant information. We had never seen ArcView, and were excited about the idea. Tony and Matt were excited since they did not have to do the work. However, our lack of knowledge was overcome by a strong desire to create a usable system that would serve our firefighters and citizens effectively as well as satisfy the needs of monitoring organizations like ISO.
Under the tutelage of the GIS department, we began a long and sometimes frustrating, but successful, journey that we hope can benefit other fire departments facing this problem.
The first step in developing a map based hydrant database, and without doubt the most important, is to identify your in-place knowledge base and resources. Having a limited idea of what GIS was, what it could do, and how to use it, I turned to our GIS department. Do not be afraid to plead ignorance on any point. Sometimes a firefighter is speaking of one thing, but a GIS specialist is interpreting it in a very different way. Do not be afraid to lean on their expertise, but pay attention and look for common ground. Try to learn how they look at problems so you may frame issues in a more meaningful manner. Once you learn about shapefiles, dig deep and search for data that may match your needs.
Our GIS department had extensive shapefiles of roads, buildings, and water bodies that assisted greatly in giving us the initial idea of where we needed to add hydrants and how it would appear.
Simply put, a shapefile, (for this purpose), is a set of points with associated tabular data containing information about a dot on a map. This data can be a written description of location, flow pressures, or unique identification numbers. Once created, the dot on the map can be easily projected onto street maps for easy reference.

ArcMap with Buildings, Roads, Hydrants

Our Water Resources Department had a very dated shapefile of hydrant locations, with no useful tabular data, but it created a good starting point. If there is no existing shapefile available, consider a field collection system with ArcPad on a handheld, and plot your hydrants accurately. Start with a basic street map, and drive the areas, mark your hydrants locations, and add identifying data as you go. If you have hydrant data existing in some form, you add it to the points.
Our existing hydrant data was mostly on green bar printouts, with 17 letters of descriptive location data. By examining the ArcView shapefiles, each hydrant was identified and a node number added to the table on the map. Since the database in the A/S 400 was created 10 or 12 years ago, there were many descriptions that were completely inaccurate or missing entirely. Add approximately 600 new hydrants in that time frame, and the task was even more daunting. A new field was created in the A/S 400 to add a distinctive node number from the shapefile for joining the information later.

HTE A/S400 hydrant records

Any type of database can be used to store your hydrant data. Whether it is Microsoft Excel or Access, or any other spreadsheet format, it can easily be attached to an ArcView or ArcMap shapefile to correlate data. The most important thing to remember is to be sure you have unique identifiers that exist in both the map data and the database. Without this link your records will be meaningless and useless, and it will frustrate your efforts.
Once we were relatively comfortable with the correlation of the existing points and hydrants, the IT department assisted by downloading the A/S 400 data in a text file, ensuring that the node number was included. Then, the data was joined, and the real work began.
Joining data in ArcView or ArcMap allows the program to utilize any of the tabular data for labeling on the maps, whether the hydrant number, location description, or flow pressures. The easiest way to explain the process is to imagine two paired columns of numbers, one random and the other ordered. Then, create another set of columns, again with one set random, the other ordered. The ordered numbers are the common ground that would allow the random numbers to relate. Any point in a map may be given a unique identifier, whether it is the GPS location or the hydrant number from your data. The important issue is to be sure the database and the shapefile have common integers so they may be linked.
Random checks were performed on over 50% of the projected map data. Labeling each hydrant with the initial joined resource number, then comparing the label to the stored data in the A/S 400 accomplished this. We set up a workstation with both ArcMap and the A/S 400 interface running side by side, and quickly checked the points. If a discrepancy was noted, it could be readily corrected. Some of the hydrant points were moved from one side of the road to the other, occasionally a point was moved a mile. But with each change, the data became more accurate.

A/S400 data entry screen on mobile computer

As we further cleaned up the data and confirmed the locations, our annual testing period was approaching. Since our confidence level was not 100%, it became imperative that the crews testing the hydrants would be our quality assurance. At the beginning of the testing period, we used ArcMap to create 11 x 17 maps of each crew’s area of responsibility, appropriately labeled. The large format gave them easy to read labels, and allowed for additions or corrections in the field. The crews could enter test data in either of two methods; writing the pressures on the map next to the hydrant for later entry, or directly into our A/S 400 interface through the mobile computers on the vehicles. Both entry methods were effective, but the field entry was most well received and less time consuming.

ArcMap View with hydrants labeled with unique identifiers

At the end of the three-month testing period, IT ran another report for data containing hydrant resource numbers, test date, and flow pressure. This information was then joined to existing data in ArcMap, and a graphical representation was created. Using the flow pressure results, each hydrant was assigned a color within a class range. The ranges approximated gradients of up to 500 gallons per minute, 501 to 750 gpm, 751 to 1000 gpm, and 1001 gpm or above. The hydrant symbols were then displayed with brightly contrasting colors to help clarify areas of low flow, which are inherently dangerous and present inefficient water for structural firefighting.

Hydrant flow categorized by color

For the first time in the Kissimmee Fire Department’s history, as the map appeared on the screen, we were able to see problems and understand relationships that had been difficult to perceive. Immediately, we identified one water main that appeared to be partially closed and notified the Water Resources department of the situation. An added benefit was not manually scan reams of printouts to determine tested/untested areas. Within half an hour, we can have the whole of the project on our desktop.
Each testing period will now be prefaced with identification of new hydrants, and creation of the now-familiar maps for the crews. Acceptance was good and they are able to see and appreciate their hard work. This process will be refined each year and will lead to insight and ideas for improved application of GIS for our everyday Fire Department use.
As we marveled at the success, we realized more than simple graphical display of hydrant data. We have learned about the wealth of useful GIS information available, shared updated data, learned how to use the Esri products, and most importantly, developed excellent working relationships within our city government structure we had not had before. One important area of impact has been the man-hour savings with a reduction of approximately 800 hours/year resulting from improved efficiency in locating hydrants and data entry. Our Department is now confident of the locations of our hydrants, accuracy of our data, and our ability to ensure protection for our citizens.
We have also transferred our updated shapefile to the GIS department for inclusion on our MDC map display interface for immediate reference during emergencies and given the results to the Water Resources Department for their use.
The main lessons learned are to actively mine your resources for knowledge and assistance, don’t be afraid to try new methods, and once you get past the initial bumps, share with everyone. The payoff will be tremendous.