If you are the owner of a large building, you might decide that one way to up the fire safety standards is to make sure that your building is equipped with at least one fire hose. However, you might not know which type of fire hose is going to be the best for your situation. Here are some tips for making the fire hose purchasing process go more smoothly.

1. Note the Temperature of the Water That Will Be Going Through Your Hose

The generic fire hose is often made to handle lukewarm or cool water. If the only place that you can attach the fire hose in your building is going to be only receiving hot water, then you might need to purchase a special type of fire hose that will be able to handle the hot water and not degrade over time. In order to check the temperature of the water that is going to be going through the hose, you will need to plan out the hose's location ahead of time. Test each spigot that is going to be used for each hose before you make any purchases.

2. Go With Aluminum Over Brass

Fire hoses with brass couplings are more resistant to salt and are therefore used on ships and oil rigs, since the main water source that's available has a high salt content. If you have a commercial building whose main water source is not saltwater, then you don't need to spend the extra money on fire hoses that have brass couplings. Instead, you will need to purchase a fire hose that is equipped with aluminum couplings. The aluminum couplings do not weigh as much as the brass couplings and will make your hose easier to move around, in case you need to move it out of its storage area to clean it or if you need to take it somewhere to help fight a fire.

3. Assess Your Need to Carry the Hose

If you are planning to have one fire hose per floor, you or the firefighters that come to your building won't need to carry the hose very far in order to make it useful. However, if you are planning to have one fire hose every two or three floors, you will need to carry the hose from floor to floor depending on where the fire breaks out. In this case, it's more important to make sure that you can get a hose to the necessary location quickly, rather than be able to pump the largest volume of water possible per minute. If you need to carry the hose from floor to floor, choose a hose with a smaller diameter because this will make it smaller and significantly easier to carry. Talk to your fire inspector about the minimum diameter hose you can purchase while still maintaining safety levels.

For more information, talk to a company that specializes in fire safety and security.