I'm not too concerned about draining the pond. It'll be 1.2 acres, and average depth @ 8 feet, with about half over 14 feet. Plenty of water.

I used to be on the volunteer dept. in town, and we always were looking for water sources, especially during the spring grassfire season. Fire chief is one of my best friends, so he's all for it. I dropped off the paperwork for him to get started on Friday.

The pond lays only about 75 feet from my driveway. They'll probably have to lay out a short gravel drive from my lane to the hydrant. As long as they are already on it, and pipe is relatively cheap, I'll suggest they dig the pipe trench an extra 30 feet or so and put the hydrant as close to the existing lane as possible. It'll be easier for them to turn around in the barn lot and not have to do any backing at all.

That's the way I'm envisioning the project, but I'll let the dept and the plumbers have as much input as they want. I've got acreage to spare, so they can put it wherever it's convenient for them. That'll make for a good Monday meeting on some nice night. They can all load up in the trucks and come out to have a "group think" on where it makes the most sense.

I hope they use it every year...had a grass fire less than 1 mile from my place week before last, and they were shuttling water from the closest city hydrant...about 3 miles away.

In a lifetime, the average driver will honk 15,250 times. My wife figures I'm due to die any day now...