The first step in setting up at a fire scene is to establish a water source, but there are many instances where a hydrant is not readily available. These nontraditional fire scenes require a large water source, as well as a system to transport the water across long distances. Many farmers and rural American residents may already be familiar with an enclosed system that moves big gallons of liquid; manure dragline operations.

Dairy and hog farmers produce and store large quantities of liquid manure. Each spring and fall, this manure needs to be transported to surrounding fields and injected into the ground as fertilizer. Over the course of mere weeks, custom manure applicators can pump hundreds of millions of gallons of liquid across miles. This enclosed liquid transport system begins at the liquid storage site, reaching into and pumping the manure out of storage and into the large diameter hose lines. From there, booster pumps keep the gallons flowing for miles across rough ground terrain before field application.

If liquid manure applicators, often moving thick sludge, can consistently and reliably transfer manure at 3,500 GPM for miles, what is stopping firefighters? Manure pumpers have been documented using their dragline equipment to assist in field and barn fires. The agitating lead pumps, which have a long hydraulic boom to reach over slurry storage walls or down and out into manure lagoons, can easily draft water from ponds or rivers. 

Manure applicators use LDH in their daily operations, often ranging from six to twelve inches in diameter. This hose is often TPU, thermoplastic polyurethane, which is more durable than rubber and can withstand harsh ground conditions when dragged. Due to the large size of the hose and how often the supply line moves fields, manure applicators use a hydraulic hose cart that can carry at least a mile of LDH, if not more. Single user operation frees up additional crew members as supply lines are deployed or retrieved. 

Many manure applicators rely on an automated pump control system to help monitor pumps across large distances. Pumps that have web-based control systems give operators the ability to throttle the engine from any connected device from anywhere in the world. By using the system’s automatic settings, pumps will throttle up or down based on user preset inlet and outlet flow rates. In the case of an emergency, such as a break in the line, the pump’s control system can shut down every pump in the line. These features not only prevent cavitation and catastrophic failures, they provide real-time data to anyone logged in to the control system. 

Custom applicators will always purge their hose lines at the end of each field application. They do this using air compressors to force a foam ball or bullet through the line to squeegee the interior of the hose. This is often called pigging the line, and can extend the service life of your hose while making it lighter and easier to retrieve.

For decades, custom manure applicators and farmers have been transferring large gallons of liquid across vast distances. Efficiency and timeliness make all the difference in firefighting. For those willing to think outside the box, real-world examples of efficient liquid transfer are available.