AWWA COMMENT PERIOD ON AWWA C503, Wet-Barrel Fire Hydrants

AWWA COMMENT PERIOD ON AWWA C503, Wet-Barrel Fire Hydrants

October 9, 2026

AWWA solicits public comments on all proposed new AWWA Standards, and on all proposed revisions, reaffirmations, or withdrawals of existing AWWA Standards. The referenced standards project is being considered for approval and the publication of this notice begins the 45-day public comment period for AWWA and ANSI. An electronic public review copy of the proposed standard can be obtained for review during the comment period by emailing ETS Support (ETSsupport@awwa.org). Comments must be submitted in writing to the AWWA contact listed below no later than the last day of the comment period specified herein. Such comments shall be specific to the section(s) of the standard under review and include sufficient detail, so as to enable the reader to understand the commenter’s position, concerns and suggested alternative language, if appropriate.

AWWA Comment Period closes on November 23, 2026.

Send comments to: Amanda Dail, ADail@awwa.org 303.734.3466 phone

The review copy will be edited for publication and may also be revised as appropriate based on any comments received during the public comment period. Therefore, this copy is not suitable for continued utilization and is intended only for comment purposes.

Final publication of the standard may take several months. When it is available, a notice will be published in the official notice section of Journal – American Water Works Association. The standard becomes an effective AWWA standard on the first day of the month following such publication in Journal – American Water Works Association.

SCOPE This standard pertains to the various types and classes of wet-barrel fire hydrants for use in fire-protection service in areas where the climate is mild and freezing temperatures do not occur. A wet-barrel hydrant has one or more valve openings above the ground line and, under normal operating conditions, the entire interior of the hydrant is subjected to water pressure at all times. Each outlet nozzle has an independent, compression-type valve (i.e., working with or against the pressure) that controls discharge from that particular outlet

MAJOR REVISIONS Major changes made to the standard in this revision include the following:

1. A new section on Smart Water Hydrant Features was added to the Foreword (Sec. II.E.).

2. Added a definition for Stuffing box to Section 3.

3. A new section on Alternative Materials for Accessory Features was added to allow for technology features and alternate materials that do not negatively impact the fire protection function of the hydrant (Sec. 4.4.1.1). The previous section covering Accessories (Sec. 4.9) was deleted.

4. Minimum yield strength and elongation were added for ductile iron (Sec. 4.4.4).

5. Revised the 25 µm limit for ISO 6509 testing to 100 µm to align with ANSI/AWWA C515 and ANSI/AWWA C509 (Sec. 4.4.6.3).

6. Deleted all references to conventional stuffing box seal construction that are no longer used by manufacturers: glands and gland bushings (Sec. 4.4.10.1), gland and stuffing box bolts and nuts (Sec. 4.4.10.2), stuffing box glands and packing (Secs. 4.4.13.1 and 4.4.13.2) and packing space and glands (Secs. 4.6.14.1 and 4.6.14.2). Section 4 was renumbered accordingly. Added new paragraph to Foreword (Sec. II.A.) to reference these historical design features.

7. A new section was added to clarify the diameter that should be used for determining minimum wall thickness when the hydrant has non-uniform dimensions or the top-section is asymmetrical in diameter (Sec. 4.6.3.1.1).

8. Deleted Sec. 4.6.5 Waterway in its entirety and renumbered subsequent sections.

9. Removed references to caulked-in nozzles, as these are no longer used (Sec. 4.6.8.2). Added new paragraph to Foreword (Sec. II.A.) to reference this historical design feature.

10. The operating nut sections were revised to clarify that tampering prevention is relative to operating the hydrant (Sec. 4.6.12.1 and Sec. 4.6.12.5).

11. All references to NFPA 1963 were revised to NFPA 1960 and specific sections, tables, and figures updated accordingly, since all content from NFPA 1963 was transferred into NFPA 1960 Chapters 1 through 8 and Annexes A, B, and C.