How do these work

When out walking I come across these, I know that they are some type of water valve. How do these work ? there are no trough for water collection .

Thanks Bob

It looks like the ones seen in villages in rural Ireland. The knob on the right hand side is on a horizontal axis and when rotated water exits from the spout. Since almost everyone now has mains water within athe house it probably doesn't work anymore.

Perhaps an old communal water pump/tap? Bring your own bucket or the trough got removed...
Many of us still remember when water fountains and taps were common until councils decided to save on maintenance and bottled water became a revenue source.
We had a couple of not too dissimilar cast iron taps in the village I grew up in - easy source for a drink when we kids were out on our bikes.

pgk

Here ya go...
Link

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fc8.alamy.com%2Fcomp%2FGT6C83%2Ffire-hydrant-water-pump-lion-GT6C83.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.alamy.com%2Fstock-photo%2Fold-cast-iron-fire-hydrant.html&tbnid=8nPs9sIU9cQoVM&vet=10CBYQMyhvahcKEwjg04DC16LuAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAw..i&docid=M3dy8TOZQ0YwWM&w=1300&h=956&q=Vintage%20cast%20iron%20water%20hydrant&client=firefox-b-d&ved=0CBYQMyhvahcKEwjg04DC16LuAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAw

I seem to remember a cast iron cup on a chain

In the village near where I live (Ticknall, Derbyshire) there are a number dotted about the village.

Their history can be seen here

Edited By Eric Cox on 17/01/2021 10:44:29

Edited By Eric Cox on 17/01/2021 10:45:47

Edited By Eric Cox on 17/01/2021 10:46:42

Bob,

They are quite simple to operate

"You turns the handle, you gets the water "

Usually over your feet, if you stand in the line of fire !

They were common when I was growing up and were the only source of water in many rural areas.

In those happy days, not many houses had showers/baths ect, so these little units were good enough/

Often, they had a cast iron cup on a chain, which would be used by about 20 kids, one after the other !, and we are still all alive.

HSE ? Who are they ?

There was one, outside the cottage, to which my In laws retired, in a village in Oxfordshire. That was in the 60s, it may still be there, but seemed to be unused at that time.

Howard

I can remember these from parks around Liverpool in the '60s; we moved away to Chorley in '68

Some still had the cups on chains, which my Dad showed my how to use hygienically;
Wash out the cup, hold in right hand, extend left index finger and lay across lower lip, drink over that finger, so the cup didn't touch your lips.
I'd almost forgotten that last bit; thanks for reviving my memory of a family moment.

Bill

Interesting that the lion head is so often used. My village has a stone lion head still issuing a trickle from a spring into a small trough for dogs. The two village communal pumps still in place were superceded by 4 taps when piped water was introduced in the '30's which I suppose was when my well was covered over. The taps still work though i don't know if they come off the original pipework or the new fangled treated water pumped up to the village in the '60's.

Portsmouth City Council installed some modern drinking water supplies around Southsea seafront a couple of years ago, then last year had to shut them off.

Apparently people weren't using them enough to keep the pipes hygienic (precautions against legionnaire's disease I presume) and the council can't afford the staff to go round and run the water off. Ho-hum.

George B.

All the Fire hose reels were removed from an old MoD building I worked in a few years ago. When I asked why they said that the water in them could contain legionella.... I think I'd take the risk to be able to fight the fire!

Lot of myths spoken about health & safety. Old fire reels are getting removed because if a fire is big enough to need a reel to tackle it, it's big enough for you to feck off out of there and wait for the professionals. The legionella is a separate thing, despite the shrinking of the defence estate lots of places are still underused to the extent that standing water in pipes can be a risk.