INTRODUCTION TO

SECOND EDITION
According to Webster's Dictionary, hydraulics is that branch of
science or engineering which treats of water, or other fluids, in motion
and the works and machinery for conducting or raising it. Fire
Service Hydraulics fits this definition except that it deals only with
water and its various applications, including foam, and certain spe-
cialized machinery and equipment that includes hose and nozzles.
Fire Service Hydraulics also includes the action of the men who
manipulate this water and machinery. It is therefore a unique
branch of hydraulics that has been tailored to a unique service and to
the men who provide it-fire fighting and fire fighters.
We have divided this Second Edition of Fire Service Hydraulics into
four parts: Theory, Water, Practice and Foam.
Part I-Theory, includes two chapters and was written by Robert
L. Darwin. It could almost be called an introduction to fluid
mechanics. In the first chapter, Mr. Darwin covers the physical laws
relating to Hydrostatics (fluids at rest) and Hydrokinetics (fluids in
motion). In the second he covers the relationships that control the
performance of water when it is used in the typical fire fighting situa-
tions. All formulas that are used in pumping water, moving it in
hose and discharging it from nozzles are developed and explained in
considerable depth.
Mr. Darwin is a fire protection engineer with the Naval Material
Command, Navy Department, Washington D.C. He holds a B. S.
in fire protection engineering from the University of Maryland and is
currently working on his master's degree in engineering administration.
Part 2-Water, is divided into two chapters: Water Distribution
Systems and Fire Service Pumps. II
 INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION

The first was prepared by Kenneth J. Carl, P.E., director of munici-

pal surveys and assistant chief engineer of the Engineering, Safety and
Research Department of The American Insurance Association. Mr.
Carl is a well known figure in the American Water Works Associa-
tion and speaks with an authority on water distribution systems that
few possess. His thoughts on hydrants and mains and particularly
on flow testing should be part of every fire fighters knowledge.
In the second chapter of Water, Hubert Walker, P.E., has covered
the design and function of every pump used in the fire service. With a
multitude of illustrations, and a clear and thorough text, Mr. Walker
provides the pump operator with just about every bit of information
he needs to know on the subject.
Mr. Walker is a former vice president of the American LaFrance
Corporation and a monthly contributor to FIRE ENGINEERING through
his "Apparatus Maintenance" column.
Part 3-Practice, takes the pump operator and company officer out
into the field where the action is. In this part the laws and formulas
governing hydraulics and the information supplied on water systems
and pumps are put to use. From a practical viewpoint, Part 3 is
probably the most important section of the Second Edition of Fire
Service Hydraulics. It is divided into five chapters.
Richard P. Sylvia, associate editor of FIRE ENGINEERING, prepared
the first two chapters of Part 3: Friction Loss Calculations, and Engine
and Nozzle Pressure Calculations. In simple steps, with many short
cuts and with appropriate problems, Sylvia spells out the operations
of a fire company and its pump operator on the fireground.
In addition to his work on FIRE ENGINEERING, he is the former
chief of the Noroton, Conn., Fire Department and more importantly
for this edition he is chief instructor of the pump operation course of
the Connecticut State Fire School.
The remaining three chapters of Part 3 cover Fire Streams, Stand-
pipe Systems and Sprinkler Systems-all from the practical as opposed
to the theoretical aspect. Material in these chapters was prepared
by the editor. It has been adapted in part from the first edition of
Fire Service Hydraulics and a number of articles that appeared in
FIRE ENGINEERING over the years.
Part 4-Foam, was written by Dr. Richard L. Tuve, head of sup-
pression research, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington D.C.
In a strict sense, foam should not be included in a book that carries
the title of Hydraulics. However, foam is such a part of fire sup-
pression and so closely linked to water and fire apparatus that we
vi felt that it should be included in Fire Service Hydraulics.
 INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION

In this section Dr. Tuve has just about covered everything the fire
fighter should know about foam. He writes specifically for this
audience-s-and in straightforward nontechnical language. He begins
with the general characteristics and uses of foam and goes on through
its methods of generation, foam proportioning devices and foam
systems.
Dr. Tuve has been in fire suppression research for most of his work-
ing life and is most notable for his development of Purple-K and
Light Water. He is at present chairman of the Foam Committee,
National Fire Protection Association.
It is our hope that the fire fighter will study this book as a whole.
However, in preparing it, we kept in mind the fact that not all who
read it will have the time or the desire to go into the theory as deeply
as Mr. Darwin has, nor will all desire the knowledge of pumps that
Mr. Walker gives.
It is for this reason that we divided Fire Service H ydraulic8 into four
parts-each of which can be studied independently. For instance,
Part 3-Practice, could have been titled Fireground Hydraulics. It
contains all that the pump operator needs to know when operating
at a fire and, with Walker's chapter, all that a pump operation instruc-
tor needs to know to conduct a short course.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the American Insurance Asso-
ciation and to the National Fire Protection Association for permission
to use various tables from their publications. And we extend partic-
ular thanks to Dorothy P. Ferguson, managing editor of FIRE
ENGINEERING, who labored hard and long in the preparation of all
copy for this edition.
J. F. C.
FIRE ENGINEERING
New York, N.Y.
August 1970