Monitor use of hydrants with VIDI Cap
Smart Caps for aboveground hydrants provide valuable insights into the use of hydrants by remotely monitoring when an outlet is used. That way, you always know whether a hydrant is accessed and poses a potential risk to the quality of water or to the usability for the fire brigade.
How does the VIDI Cap work?
The VIDI Cap is a battery-operated device that provides information about the open/close status of aboveground hydrant outlets. It runs on NB-IoT, has a 10-year lifespan, and is IP68 approved. The VIDI Cap replaces the blind caps on outlets of aboveground fire hydrants. It transmits data immediately when the cap position changes followed by retransmissions in fixed intervals. In case of no activity, it transmits a keep-alive signal every 24 hours.
The VIDI Cap can be installed on new or already existing hydrants with a threaded Storz B outlet.
Why monitor your hydrants’ activity?
Hydrants are everywhere and they are expected to work, especially in case of an emergency. But if not taken care of, hydrants are likely to be out of order when they are really needed.
Due to the geographical spread of fire hydrants, they have not been easy to monitor at a regular basis, leaving the functionality to chance. Accidents, vandalism, and freezing temperatures (if not used as prescribed) can compromise hydrant function. Additionally, unauthorised access to water can lead to critically low water pressure as it draws a large quantity of water through the pipes at once, but it can also expose the entire distribution network to the risk of contamination as the hydrants are directly connected to the water supply. Today, lots of resources are used on driving around and carrying out spot checks to make sure that hydrants are not damaged and are working in case of need.
By monitoring any use of hydrants, water utilities can discover accidents and vandalism, detect theft of water and caps, extend the lifetime of the hydrants, and save a lot of resources.
Typical applications
VIDI Caps can be used everywhere in the network, and it has several applications.
Monitoring vandalism and collision
By monitoring hydrants, you will be alarmed in case of any activity, whether it is vandalism or collisions, and thereby provide confidence in the functionality of hydrants.
Discovering theft of caps and water
With the installation of the VIDI Cap, you can discover potential theft of caps and water as any movement of the caps are registered and alarmed. In this way, you can reduce illegal use and water losses.
Maintenance and flushing plans
With automatic registration and documentation of any operation of hydrants, it becomes easier to optimise planning of maintenance and flushing as well as other general inspections. In this way, you avoid using time on maintaining the same hydrant twice.
