FARK.com: (2882130) Firefighters who filled a pool using a hydrant may face theft charges. Must be special water

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		Firefighters who filled a pool using a hydrant may face theft charges. Must be special water (apnews.myway.com)		90
		More: Stupid

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7548 clicks; posted to Main » on 21 Jun 2007 at 9:31 AM | Favorite | share:

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Wanebo		2007-06-21 08:34:14 AM

Submitter does realize that it costs money to clean and treat water and so therefore municipalities do charge for it?

JPGumby		2007-06-21 08:39:35 AM

The average swimming pool takes 18,000-20,000 gallons of water to fill.

I'm sure it's not free. Subbie should ask to see his parent's water bill and do the math before using the stupid tag.

IMlifelike		2007-06-21 08:40:09 AM

Weird. We had a thread about this very thing yesterday. Some TFers suggested it would cost about 50 bucks.

me texan		2007-06-21 08:41:04 AM

So fireman can taketth away, but fireman cannot givveth?

WWJD?

Pocket Ninja		2007-06-21 08:41:19 AM

They used public water to fill a private pool. How exactly is that *not* theft, subby? Filling a pool costs money, which this asshat (most likely a friend/acquaintance of one of the firemen) managed to avoid paying by foisting the water costs off on everybody else.

Last summer, I caught workers for landscaper our HOA hires using my faucet to fill their water tanks. I confronted their management, and they ended up paying my previous three months' water bills (it was determined that they had been taking my water for a period of time stretching back that far) to avoid any further action on my part. Water is a commodity, and taking it without permission is theft. It's not complicated.

BullsHitter		2007-06-21 08:41:45 AM

I bet she was hot.

snatchbeast		2007-06-21 09:11:16 AM

And most honest people pay for their water, Subby.

wrek		2007-06-21 09:34:28 AM

Here you can just pay the city to open the hydrant for you so you can fill your pool. Otherwise it takes DAYS with a hose. It's not uncommon at all.

jack21221		2007-06-21 09:35:14 AM

Around here, filling a pool would cost something like 30 bucks if I estimate correctly. Sure, it isn't like they stole a diamond, but it is still pretty unethical.

beoswulf		2007-06-21 09:36:41 AM

Wanebo [TotalFark] 2007-06-21 08:34:14 AM
Submitter does realize that it costs money to clean and treat water and so therefore municipalities do charge for it?

Yeh, wouldn't want to be spraying plain ole regular water on a fire.

jack21221		2007-06-21 09:37:50 AM

wrek

The key phrase in your post is "you can just pay"

Koggie		2007-06-21 09:41:08 AM

I live in the country and paid $6000 for my well and water system this year.

Water has a cost no matter where you are.

Robo Beat		2007-06-21 09:41:15 AM

Wow. I've actually heard the opposite was true. Around here, the FD will fill your pool for you, provided you let them have access to it if there's a fire nearby. My city's FD will do it for almost free, since they see it as both great PR/awareness building and a good opportunity for their men to get practice with the hose equipment.

/make burgers and hot dogs for the firefighters, have a pool-filling party

L.B. Jeffries		2007-06-21 09:41:46 AM

Subby

What's your problem? It's public water being use- blah blah blah and other people have to actually pay for that, tax payer li- blah blah blah and if 18 polar bears can eat it and only one die, then it mu- blah blah blah you just keep shoving that chocolate ice cream in the- blah blah blah if opinions could fly, this place would be an airpo- blah blah blah

GameVoid		2007-06-21 09:43:42 AM

In my county, you get a $20 credit on your water bill if you fill up your pool. It has something to do with water conservation or something along those lines. Never understood it. Maybe people who have pools take fewer baths or something?

RockIsDead		2007-06-21 09:45:03 AM

Subby is just your typical Farker living in his parents basement.

Bills? Subby knows of them not.

Denial_of_Death		2007-06-21 09:45:24 AM

Just light one of those trick birthday candles at the bottom of your empty pool then call the fire department.

/since this are a serious thread, I'd better mention that's a joke to prevent any sandius vaginus
//the first slashie is a joke, too

SteakMan		2007-06-21 09:45:44 AM

We payed the city to use the hydrant to fill our pool, and rented a hose from the FD.... once.

The water, or the hose itself, had some sort oil in it that was a pain in the arse to clean off the edges of the pool.

TheCynic		2007-06-21 09:48:11 AM

Weird, I did it for free. The city "water users" guy opened it for me. It was no big deal.

selfmedicating		2007-06-21 09:48:17 AM

The man in charge:
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6708/waterol8.gif

dr_iacovone		2007-06-21 09:49:53 AM

Maybe, in defense of subby, subby means that the people who did this are the stupid people, and not the people that are estimating charges and thinking of prosecuting?

Hmmm?

fish500		2007-06-21 09:50:08 AM

Subby reminds me of that spoiled rich girl who was on that MTV reality show with Tommy Hillfiger's daughter who made the comment, "Clothes should be a free necessity like water"

TheCynic		2007-06-21 09:51:45 AM

Well it is untreated, non-potable water.

tboucher		2007-06-21 09:52:09 AM

Weird in my home town you could do that, you just told the city when you started and when you stopped and they billed you for the water. It was no big deal and you filled your pool in record time of a few hours vs. garden hoses and a few days.

GoodOmens		2007-06-21 09:52:12 AM

Lots of towns allow you to do this ... for a fee of course.

Scrophulous Barking Duck		2007-06-21 09:53:22 AM

Gamevoid - In my county, you get a $20 credit on your water bill if you fill up your pool. It has something to do with water conservation or something along those lines. Never understood it. Maybe people who have pools take fewer baths or something?

Maybe they figure it counts as emergency water storage. Since I'm here in Ca. I always figure my pool might be handy after an earthquake if the taps fail. Assuming of course the quake doesn't wreck the pool.

Robo Beat		2007-06-21 09:54:08 AM

GameVoid:

In my county, you get a $20 credit on your water bill if you fill up your pool. It has something to do with water conservation or something along those lines. Never understood it. Maybe people who have pools take fewer baths or something?

I don't know about your county, but in a lot of places, the sewer bill is calculated from your water consumption. The assumption there is that, in most cases, it goes out at about the same rate as it goes in. If you're filling a pool, however, your water consumption goes up greatly but without the corresponding increase in waste water discharge. So the $20 is probably there to offset the increase in the sewer charges.

/that's my guess, anyways

dogologolus		2007-06-21 09:54:17 AM

Water water everywhere
and yet the pool doth shrink....

/apologies to teh Ancient Marinator

//I like to sit in the tub and macerate 111111!

///whatever

concordcobber		2007-06-21 09:55:33 AM

Do victims of a burned down house have to pay for the water used by the fire department to put down the flames?? The answer to the question is NO in most of the counties in the US (exceptions are for counties with horrible water supply or water maintenance). Plus, sure it is different when using the water for public or private use, but water maintenance charges for the city to clean its water isnt the same as the bill they give you each month.

MayoBoy		2007-06-21 09:56:18 AM

In St. Louis, water is about .002 cents per gallon. Our average inground pool is about 30,000 gallons. That's about 60 bucks to fill it.

Scrophulous Barking Duck		2007-06-21 10:02:46 AM

Robo Beat I don't know about your county, but in a lot of places, the sewer bill is calculated from your water consumption. The assumption there is that, in most cases, it goes out at about the same rate as it goes in. If you're filling a pool, however, your water consumption goes up greatly but without the corresponding increase in waste water discharge. So the $20 is probably there to offset the increase in the sewer charges.

/that's my guess, anyways

That sounds like a better guess than mine.

Pocket Ninja		2007-06-21 10:06:03 AM

concordcobber: Do victims of a burned down house have to pay for the water used by the fire department to put down the flames??

I wonder if there's any difference between extinguishing a fire burning within the community and filling a private swimming pool.

drunkennewfiemidget		2007-06-21 10:09:08 AM

Discipline them by writing them up or something so they know better, make the homeowner pay the $50 or whatever for the water, and get on with their lives. sheesh.

CheatCommando		2007-06-21 10:11:40 AM

Not in concordcobber's little world. Having the pool filled is at least as important as stopping an imminent threat to the public safety.

the dude's lawyer		2007-06-21 10:13:17 AM

Internal Investigations is getting riled up about someone stealing $60(ish) worth of water? Either it's been a slow month in Wyandotte County or something else is up...

JASOS		2007-06-21 10:14:40 AM

re-enactment of said-thievery ::
BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH

I"M IN YOUR FARK STEALING YOUR WEBSITE SPACE WITH MULTIPLE BLAHS!

Tommy Moo		2007-06-21 10:15:39 AM

^^^^^
I agree.

Firing these guys is way overboard. It was a mistake, but let's not get carried away. They weren't showing up to a fire high on shrooms or anything.

madcatcasey		2007-06-21 10:17:26 AM

Robo Beat: I don't know about your county, but in a lot of places, the sewer bill is calculated from your water consumption. The assumption there is that, in most cases, it goes out at about the same rate as it goes in. If you're filling a pool, however, your water consumption goes up greatly but without the corresponding increase in waste water discharge. So the $20 is probably there to offset the increase in the sewer charges.

Plus, instead of taking a leak in the toilet and flushing it, most people will just piss in the pool, thus saving additional water.

Weasel3322		2007-06-21 10:19:15 AM

wow is today "get hyped up over a non-story day?" the last fire i went to we dumped millions of gals. on a cement factory and no one missed them, i'm guessing a pool isn't going to be that much.

nanofreak		2007-06-21 10:20:48 AM

Not to mention the pressure drop if by chance there was a fire in the same vicinity and they really needed to use the hydrant.

Helios1182		2007-06-21 10:21:24 AM

- If you let the city know before you do it you can usually fill your pool and not pay for sewage and save a lot of money
- A lot of fire departments will fill your pool for you (sometimes nearly free), but in the case of a fire they get to use your pool water
- Taking water without permission is still theft
- The firefighters should have known better

BANKAI		2007-06-21 10:21:41 AM

You guys pay for water? Dang.... I pity you

/Going to fill as many pools as I want how I want, for free!
//The only water I pay for is water in bottles
///Quebec FTW

spickus		2007-06-21 10:22:35 AM

TheCynic

"Well it is untreated, non-potable water."

Not likely, nearly all fire hydrants use treated the same potable water delivered to your house in the same water lines. If it was untreated, someone still has to pay for installation, maintenance, electricity, etc. They knew better.

The Stealth Hippopotamus		2007-06-21 10:24:10 AM

No need to get so nasty guys. It's not like they downloading free movies and music off the internet! It's just water, it falls from the sky for fark sakes.

/sarcasm tagged for the sarcasm impaired

The Stealth Hippopotamus		2007-06-21 10:26:02 AM

BANKAI
You guys pay for water? Dang.... I pity you

/Going to fill as many pools as I want how I want, for free!
//The only water I pay for is water in bottles
///Quebec FTW

Oh, you pay for it. You just don't get an itemized bill.

Just_another_guy_named_cliff		2007-06-21 10:29:13 AM

From wikipedia;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_hydrant

Additionally, residents who wish to use the hydrant to fill their in-ground swimming pool are commonly permitted to do so provided they pay for the water and agree to allow firefighters to draft from their pool in the case of an emergency.
===================

You'd more want to think of this in terms of a cable guy giving free cable to a friend of his and getting busted and having to pay.

It's not really news ... or fark ...

Repeat Man!!!		2007-06-21 10:32:31 AM

The Stealth Hippopotamus
Oh, you pay for it. You just don't get an itemized bill.

You're talking, but BANKAI can't understand you. You could tell him that when some tard decides to waste water, he will have to pay for that too, and that by living in a less socialist state, you get to choose if you save money on water consumption or not, but he wouldn't understand that either.

BANKAI, go buy some lottery tickets.

prjindigo		2007-06-21 10:33:27 AM

average pool is about 26,000 gallons, that's five bucks per thousand here, if it was a fifty thousand gallon olympic it's about 12 bucks per thousand... say six hundred dollars.

Snuffybud		2007-06-21 10:33:58 AM

Robo Beat
I don't know about your county, but in a lot of places, the sewer bill is calculated from your water consumption. The assumption there is that, in most cases, it goes out at about the same rate as it goes in. If you're filling a pool, however, your water consumption goes up greatly but without the corresponding increase in waste water discharge. So the $20 is probably there to offset the increase in the sewer charges.

That's exactly what it is in my town. They'll even set up a temporary meter to determine how much water you've used.

WeenerGord		2007-06-21 10:35:17 AM

Here water costs 1.20 per 1000 gallons plus 4.00 per 1000 gallons sewer fee. If you want to avoid paying sewer fees on your hose bibb, you have to have a separate meter for it. These fees vary wildly by municipality depending on how much money the local government wishes to raise.

So if this pool was 20,000 gallons, and it were filled here, they would have used $24 worth of water to fill it, plus 80 dollars in sewerage fees if the municipality decides to rape them for it, as if water from a fire hydrant or pool will ever go down a drain to be treated.

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