without castings IN A WORLD


Would Fire Be More Diffi cult to Fight?


At the start of the 19th


century, amid the Industrial


Revolution, American cities were especially prone to devastating and deadly fi res. Increased urbanization led to hundreds of wooden buildings housing thousands of open fl ames, in stoves and lanterns for instance. Low tech fi refi ghting methods—including open-air cauldrons, buried cisterns and plugged holes in under- ground wooden water mains—were ineffi cient. T e development of municipal water systems,


namely the spread of cast iron piping, allowed for improved ways to fi ght fi res. In 1803, Frederick Graff Sr., chief engineer of the Philadelphia Water Works, received the fi rst patent for an aboveground cast iron hydrant. Graff ’s pillar-style design, with a valve and faucet outlet that remained charged with water, is not signifi cantly diff erent from modern hydrants, outside of a few minor design impro vements. 


Nov/Dec 2013 | METAL CASTING DESIGN & PURCHASING | 13


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