On March 22nd (2025) more than 40 folks from Floyd County and surrounding areas got together in 20-degree weather to haul and pump water for two-hours, uninterrupted. The drill culminated our 16-hr Rural Water Supply Operations Seminar that was hosted by the Floyd Community Volunteer Fire Department and sponsored in part by the Quad County Firefighters Association. Participants spent Thursday and Friday evening reviewing the best practices of relay pumping and tanker shuttle operations. Saturday was committed to a review of drafting and fill site operations and then concluded with the 2-hr drill.

We were last in Floyd back in 2021 and this year's drill had a bit of a different twist; the folks started with a rural hitch operation for the first 37 minutes and then moved to a dump tank operation and finished up replacing all of that with a 1650-ft relay pumping operation. The drill was held in nearby Rudd, Iowa and simulated a large fire in the downtown area with loss of the hydrant system. A peak flow of 1500 gpm was achieved during the relay pumping; which was a very realistic scenario for any small town served by a smaller municipal water system.

The hospitality was outstanding and we had a great time despite the snow and cold and we look forward to a third visit in the future. Instructors for the seminar were Mark Davis and Alan Butsch.