A standpipe is a freestanding pipe fitted with a tap which is installed outdoors to dispense

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

in areas which do not have a running water supply to the buildings.

Use

In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, an "Emergency Drought Order" permits a water company to shut off the primary water supply to homes, and to supply water instead from tanks or standpipes in the streets. This was done in some areas during the 1976 heat wave, for example. In some

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

ern,

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

and

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

n countries a standpipe is used as a communal

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...

for neighbourhoods which lack individual housing water service. In areas such as Morocco, standpipes often yield unreliable service and lead to

water scarcity Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity. One is ''physical.'' The other is ''economic water scarcity''. Physic ...

for large numbers of people.Guillaume Benoit and Aline Comeau, ''A Sustainable Future for the Mediterranean'' (2005) 640 pages

Freeze resistance

In areas where the air or surface ground temperatures reach below

freezing point The melting point (or, rarely, liquefaction point) of a substance is the temperature at which it changes state of matter, state from solid to liquid. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase (matter), phase exist in Thermodynamic equilib ...

for part or all of the year, some standpipes are equipped with a feature whereby the same mechanism that valves the water for the bib also uncovers a drainage hole (the 'weep hole') at the base of the pipe when the standpipe is closed, ensuring that the column of water drains into the ground rather than remaining in the pipe where it might freeze and expand, bursting the plumbing. Standpipes that are equipped with this feature are sometimes referred to as 'frost-free hydrants' although frost buildup can still occur to a lesser extent.

Gallery

File:Standpipe in winter wonderland Helsinki.JPG, Standpipe in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

File:Standpipe in center of Stavropol.jpg, Street standpipe in Russia File:Borne de puisage BAYARD.jpg, Street standpipe in France File:Standpipe.jpg, Standpipe at a backyard in Argentina File:Standpipe in Minsk (Belarus) 2.jpg, Street standpipe in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

File:Standpipe St. Peter (Graveyard).jpg, Typical Standpipe in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

File:LA ROSE TOWN HALL - NARA - 552460.jpg, Standpipe in La Rose, Illinois, USA

References

External links

Water supply {{watersupply-stub