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Welcome to the Official Website for GBW Associates, LLC.
    
GotBigWater is the official website of GBW Associates, LLC, a privately owned training, consulting, and design firm located in Westminster, Maryland. Our specialty is water supply for public and private fire protection. We at GBW Associates, LLC are known for our training programs, our consulting services, our dry hydrants, and our testing services. Over the years, we have completed projects in over 42 different states and Canada ranging from rural water supply and incident command seminars to ISO water supply assessments to community master planning.
Use the menu at the left to take a look at our services and to contact us. Be sure to check out the News Archive and Big Water Information sections for a whole bunch of information on water supply delivery operations.
Scroll down to see our recent activities, upcoming events, and website updates.
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Be sure to join the Members Area to discuss water supply issues, view our document library, and receive announcement notices concerning our website and our services- it is FREE!
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Upcoming Seminars, Courses, and Drills
Click on image to view flyer.
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Dry Fire Hydrant Design #74 - Bridge-Mount Installation - Albany, Vermont
President Mark Davis, June 05
On June 1, 2025, we completed another bridge-mount dry fire hydrant installation in Vermont; this time in the Town of Albany. The installation was funded in part by the Vermont Rural Fire Protection Program (Grant) and was approved by the Town. The installation used our angle-mount brackets and an ETT 6-inch NH female suction head and an ETT 6-inch stream strainer outfitted with our Jericho Ice ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Albany Engine 3 drafts and flow tests the new dry hydrant.
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Clam Union Twp Engine 41 drafts and flows 1000+ gpm during the flow test of the system.
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Dry Hydrant Design #73 - Falmouth, Michigan
President Mark Davis, May 29
On May 22nd we completed our first, bridge-mount dry fire hydrant installation in Michigan thanks to Chief Carl Fisher and the folks at the Clam Union Fire Department. The installation used our saddle-mount design on a concrete barrier wall and was outfitted with a 6-inch NH ETT female suction head and a 6-inch ETT stream strainer. Because of expected icing conditions, we outfitted the strainer ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Haulin' Water - Vermont Style!
President Mark Davis, May 22
On the afternoon of May 18th, over 40 folks from the Fairlee, VT/Orford NH region and surrounding area (plus Connecticut & Massachusetts) got together to haul water for 2-hours using tankers. The event was the culmination of our 16-hr Rural Water Supply Operation Seminar that was sponsored by the Upper Valley Mutual Aid Association and hosted by the Fairlee VFD. The crews spent all day Saturday and ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Five tankers were used to support this 3-dump tank operation. A peak flow of 1000 gpm was attained during the latter part of the drill.
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Having the inlet side of the control valve outfitted with 6" NH male thread allows for the quick attachment of traditional suction hose for drafting...should the FD choose to use the valve as a suction inlet control valve during drafting operations.
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LDH Appliances #14 - Threaded Suction Intake Control Valve
President Mark Davis, May 15
A recent discussion on our Facebook page about suction inlet control valves reminded us of a couple photos we found while looking back on our 2011 seminar in DeKalb County, Alabama. The two photos are pretty simple but show what we believe is a best practice of having a threaded connection on the inlet side of an external control valve if the department plans on drafting through the valve. For more ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Hauling Water - Onondaga County Style!
Alan Butsch, Senior Associate, May 08
Last weekend, folks from multiple departments in southern Onondaga county, NY got together to learn about moving big water on wheels. Students were exposed to new concepts such as drafting through multiple hard sleeves, utilizing all available room on a road by placing dump tanks in front of a pumper, and filling tankers via an open relay utilizing several different eductor style water movers...including ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Gettin' it done in Onondaga County, New York!
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A peak flow of just under 2000 gpm was achieved during the second half of the drill.
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Haulin' Water - Maryland Eastern Shore Style
President Mark Davis, May 01
On April 27th, around 40 folks from Kent County and surrounding areas (Kentucky also) worked hard to haul water with tankers for 2-hours uninterrupted. The drill was the culmination of our 16-hr Rural Water Supply Operation Seminar that was sponsored by the Kent County Fire Chiefs Association and hosted by the Chestertown VFD. The goal of the drill was to try and run a rural hitch operation for the ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Dry Hydrant Design #72 - Bridge-Mount Installation - Duxbury, Vermont
President Mark Davis, April 24
Earlier this month we finished up another bridge-mount dry fire hydrant installation in Vermont. This time it was on River Road in the Town of Duxbury. The Vermont Rural Fire Protection Task Force through the Vermont Association of Conservation Districts (VACD) provided assistance to the Waterbury Fire Department in developing a plan to improve water supply in Duxbury. The Vermont Legislature approved ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Waterbury Engine 1 (1500 gpm) takes draft and prepares to flowtest the newly installed dry fire hydrant.
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Niagara Hose Engine 141 (2000 gpm) flow tests the new installation and produces a 1000+ gpm flow using the pre-piped deck gun.
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Dry Hydrant Design #71 - Another Bridge Mount for Champlain, NY
President Mark Davis, April 17
After fighting off several months of snow and frigid temperatures we were able to complete our installation of a bridge-mount dry fire hydrant on Cardin Road in Champlain, NY. The Champlain Fire District and the Town of Champlain have done an excellent job of assessing their fire protection water supply needs....especially their drafting and dry fire hydrant locations. The Cardin Road dry fire hydrant ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Your questions and feedback are important to us! If you have a question about water supply or pumps or FD stuff in general, join our Members area (for free) to post your inquiry. We will provide our thoughts and perhaps other folks in the field will provide theirs also.
Also - be sure to sign the guest book if this is your first time here - guestbook.
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