Utility Organization Develops Innovative Fire Hydrant Tracking with Camcode

A non-profit municipal utility that offers electric, water, wastewater, cable, and internet services to local residents in a Southern U.S. state came to Camcode looking for a more efficient method to track, identify and manage its fire hydrants.

As an asset tracking and identification method, the utility company was painting a combination of a letter and three digit numbers on the back of its hydrants. This process was becoming cumbersome and confusing. It also required maintenance crews to get out of their vehicles and view hydrants from the back. Then, they manually entered data after they visited a hydrant location. After discovering there were some hydrants with the same numbers painted on the back, the utility company began looking to track their fire hydrants more efficiently using bar codes.

The non-profit municipal utility already had a good relationship with Camcode. The company’s electric department previously purchased Camcode’s utility pole tags and found great success using them to track their assets.

The utility company’s water maintenance supervisor was looking for a unique solution for fire hydrant identification and tracking. “I wanted bar code labels that could be mounted on the front of the fire hydrant and seen from the road,” the water maintenance manager said. “I decided on something similar to pole tags because our company is already using them successfully.” The water maintenance manager says he researched other options, but found the costs to be too high.

“It was great working with Camcode, we now have a more effective and efficient way to properly track our fire hydrants.”

Together with a Camcode salesperson, they developed a solution that would be visible from the street, but would also allow for scanning at a closer range. Using Camcode’s durable .020” Metalphoto® anodized aluminum, they created a type of pole tag which hangs down from a hydrant’s bolt. This design fit the water maintenance manager’s requirements and also kept it away from the hydrant itself during the painting process.

The utility company is happy with the results of their innovative fire hydrant asset tags. “Each fire hydrant now has its own unique number,” said the water maintenance manager. “And it’s very easy to keep up with the maintenance information.”

“It was great working with Camcode,” the water maintenance manager said. “We now have a more effective and efficient way to properly track our fire hydrants.”