When the heat wave hit, anti-social behaviour such as unauthorised opening of flush and fire hydrants rose sharply in many towns and cities.
This practice directly imported from the USA – street pooling – is dangerous for participants, disruptive for emergency services, expensive for local authorities, and disastrous for the environment. That adds up to a lot of disadvantages for just a little refreshment and not much more fun.
In Saint-Denis last June, during the year’s first heat wave, a young 6-year-old boy was violently thrown into the air by the high-pressure spray from a fire hydrant opened for street pooling and rushed to hospital in a coma.
To prevent unauthorised opening of flush and fire hydrants, SADE is installing secure street pooling kits for its clients, which can be adjusted to fit both flush and fire hydrants.
They prevent unauthorised opening without disrupting the work of firefighters and other authorised users.
Clichy council selected the SADE Group to install these kits on all its firefighting facilities. This project was divided into two campaigns, one scheduled in 2018 (82 kits) and a second expedited, at the council’s request, in less than 2 weeks this year (100 kits). Because, as the Greater Paris Water Authority (SEDIF – Syndicat des Eaux d’Île-de-France) reminds us: Water’s not for wasting!!
Towns in the Paris suburbs are far from being the only ones hit by street pooling. In the months and years to come, many towns and cities will get their facilities secured, as Clichy asked SADE to do.
The “secure street pooling” kit features a protective cap specially designed to limit access to the square wrench head, making it very difficult to open with shop-bought tools. It’s simple and effective!