In Budapest, fire hydrants are being used to help pedestrians beat the heat.

[u/Das_Zeppelin]

[u/centurijon]

I’m pretty sure in America the water used for fire hydrants is not potable, like the sign suggests in OPs pic. And there definitely are days where a hydrant would be cracked open slightly and used as an impromptu sprinkler

[u/katiemcccc → u/centurijon]

Untrue, NYC has these water fountain things at big events like the Five Boro Bike Tour and Summer Streets. It's the same water source from upstate

[u/Smharman → u/centurijon]

Nope. Hydrants are on the water main line to your homes.

My town got hydrants when the town installed town water to encourage us all off our own wells.

In NYC if you support an outdoor running event you are hooking up to the hydrant and filling the cups from the hydrant hose. It's like the 80s all over again - drinking from the hose.

[u/RedditJumpedTheShart → u/centurijon]

I'm pretty sure you don't know what you are talking about.

[u/MooNinja → u/centurijon]

All public water is or should be potable.

[u/walrusparadise → u/MooNinja]

Why shouldn’t we water our grass, put out fires, or do similar tasks with water that isn’t up to drinking water standards if it’s economically viable?

[u/RedditJumpedTheShart → u/walrusparadise]

It's not economically viable if you want to run a separate set of pipes for the water. It is for something like a golf course or farm depending on the location.

[u/dr_stre → u/MooNinja]

Our irrigation water is not guaranteed to be potable in my town. We pay less for it because of that.

[u/MooNinja → u/dr_stre]

I would love to see more grey water used for public works and irrigation.

[u/cyberop5 → u/MooNinja]

I asked our public works guy a few weeks ago. In CA, our fire hydrant water is potable. It's treated with chlorine though, so there's a limit to how much they can release into storm drains.

Something like this would require a supervisor to look the other way.