Many departments in rural areas have readily available water supplies in lakes, rivers and other natural sources. Many others do not. For those departments, a variety of supplied sources are available.

Some of these sources are permanent and are designed to provide long-term fire protection for established commercial or residential areas. Other sources are seasonal or temporary to provide short-term protection against specific hazards, such as wildland fires.

Permanent water sources are the best method of providing reliable firefighting protection. Unlike natural sources, departments don't have to be concerned with hundred-year droughts or diversion of streams. Once installed, these sources need only periodic checking and refilling to remain viable.

Above-ground sources include tanks, bladders and troughs. They can sit directly on the ground or be elevated on support structures. The water is usually delivered from the tank by gravity flow, although some situations may require the use of pumps.

Above-ground tanks usually are cylindrical and can be made of plastic or metal. Plastic tank sizes range up to about 10,000 gallons and can be manifolded together for greater storage capacity. Metal tanks can be much larger. Some departments have mounted disabled tanker trailers on blocks to provide simple, but effective water tanks. Tanks are an excellent, low-cost way to safely store water without excavating a hole. They can be placed near key structures or distributed throughout residential areas.

Bladders offer all the advantages of tanks, but have greater capacities. Because they are flexible, bladders can conform to slightly uneven or sloping terrain, but they take larger areas and require adequate surface preparation to prevent tears and punctures. Some departments have been able to obtain used military bladders through the federal surplus equipment program.

Trough water supplies include livestock watering tanks and irrigation risers. They also might include flat-bottomed, reinforced-plastic tubs originally designed to transport tomatoes and other vegetables from fields to packing plants. Although troughs can provide good service for many years, they are usually best suited to seasonal fire protection duties.

For situations where freeze protection, tank security or visual aesthetics are factors, in-ground cisterns and tanks often are used. These installations require considerable excavation, construction and labor. Unless the water is stored at a point of higher elevation, delivery requires pumps. Although departments can store very large quantities of water this way, the costs are much higher.

For seasonal fire protection, or when preparing for wildfires that might not arrive in an area for several days, departments can use several temporary installations to store water. These water storage products are readily available and can be set-up and taken down quickly without a lot of expense.

Portable tanks are perhaps the most common way to establish water supplies in remote areas. They might use a folding-frame or self-supporting foam collar design and can be set up in a few minutes by one or two personnel. Capacities up to about 20,000 gallon are available. The next step down in size and durability might be to use commercial above-ground swimming pools designed for home use. These are inexpensive, but lack the strength to withstand repeated hard use. In emergency situations, a shallow trench or pit can be dug and lined with a large plastic tarp to form a temporary in-ground reservoir.

If budgets allow contracting for outside support, many equipment rental firms and road contractors have water trailers that can be brought to a site and kept in service for the duration of the season or incident. Some trailers can be raised on hydraulic legs to provide gravity flow from the tank.

In developed rural areas, fire departments sometimes can use existing residential swimming pools as seasonal or emergency water supplies. Because these pools often are located out of sight in backyards and behind fences, fire personnel may have difficulty in locating them. Some departments have worked with homeowners to identify these sources and mark them along the street with signs or special reflectors. Others rely on building permits and other public records to find homes with pools. One easy way is to access Internet mapping sources such as Google. These online sources are generated from satellite images and show structures, roads and topography for most developed areas. However, these images can be several years old. Portable pumps are usually the best way to deliver water from residential pools.

In wildland-urban interface areas where helicopters are available for firefighting, some departments have established dip tank sites to provide convenient sources of water. Helicopter dip tanks can be permanent or temporary, but they require different designs and considerations than other water supplies.

The dip tank sites must be in open areas with lines of approach and departure that are free of trees, power lines and other obstacles. They should also be well away from buildings because the downwash from the helicopter rotors can damage roofs and dislodge loose items. Finally, the dip tanks must be connected to secondary supply tanks or other sources of water for quick refills. This last requirement also keeps the ground support crew away from the dust, noise and rotating blades of the helicopter as it hovers over the tank.

The tanks themselves might be above ground, partially in the ground or wholly in the ground. They require fully open tops and need at least 5 feet of water depth to allow submersion of buckets and prevent air entrainment in suction hoses. Larger helicopters may require substantially large and deeper tanks. If the tanks are not sufficiently heavy when empty, they may need to be tied down or partially buried to prevent them from being blown over.

To maintain adequate water supplies in tanks, cisterns and other auxiliary water sources, departments need to keep them full. In most rural areas, that requires a well and pump on or near the site. Where commercial alternating current electricity is not available, engine-driven pumps, wind-driven pumps or direct current electrical pumps connected to solar panels can be used. If water is not available in the vicinity, departments may have to deliver water with tanker shuttles or large-diameter hose relays to fill the tanks or cisterns.

No matter what method is used to fill the source, departments also need to inspect the condition and water level periodically. This is critical if departments expect to gain water supply credit on their ISO ratings — if you can't prove the tanks always contain a certain amount of water, you can't get credit for that water. Inspections should be scheduled at least once a year and need to be recorded, dated and signed.

Departments also need to realize that static water sources, especially those with open tops, present a potential liability. Children, pets and livestock can fall into them and drown. Vandals deliberately can open valves to flood the surrounding area. Motorists can accidentally back into connecting hydrants and fittings. From a health standpoint, open tanks and cisterns can provide breeding places for mosquitoes. To counter these problems and minimize liability, many departments erect fencing around storage tanks and install protective guards on any exposed plumbing. Open-top tanks can be fitted with removable covers. If the water source is to be used for helicopter dip operations, be careful to install fences and guards far enough away that they do not interfere with the helicopter fuselage or rotors.

No matter how remote an area might be, developing and maintaining man-made sources can provide firefighters with adequate water when and where they need it. Whether it's a temporary above-ground tank or a permanent underground cistern, there are a variety of ways departments can provide alternate water supplies.

On NFPA 1142

The latest edition of NFPA 1142, Water Supplies for Suburban and Rural Firefighting, offers a comprehensive guide to methods and considerations for establishing water supplies from sources other than hydrants. It covers natural and fabricated water sources including rivers, lakes, streams, cisterns, swimming pools, water tanks and many others.

The bulk of the standard appears in the annex sections, which offer recommendations on construction methods, site locations, plumbing and other factors. Unlike some standards, which contain mostly text, this one has photos, drawings, tables, plans and formulas to help departments develop the best alternate water supplies for their needs.

The standard also has sections on more traditional methods of water supply including water tanker/tender shuttles and the use of large-diameter supply hose.

To order the NFPA 1142 standard, contact NFPA at 800-344-3555 or go online to http://catalog.nfpa.org.