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 41 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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Harrison Engine 2 (1500 gpm) drafts with two suction lines, supplies four jet transfer devices and flows 1000 gpm using a 4-dump tank arrangement.
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Hauling Water -Western Maine Style!
President Mark Davis, May 25
On the afternoon of May 21st, about 40 folks from Cumberland and Oxford Counties, Maine gathered at the Harrison Fire Department and hauled water for about 2-hours as part of our 16-hr Rural Water Supply Operations Seminar. The program was sponsored by the Cumberland/Oxford Fire Chiefs' Association and hosted by the Harrison Fire Department. The drill culminated a weekend of reviewing the best practices ... (Full Story & Photos)
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What's on Your Engine Company #12 - Rear Intake
President Mark Davis, May 18
Regarding midship mounted fire pumps, a rear suction inlet can generally out-perform a traditional front inlet in most instances. Of course, this assumes one is comparing same diameter inlet piping and same rated pump capacities. In most cases, the increased performance is due to the reduced number of bends and elbows needed for the rear inlet design compared to the traditional front inlet design. ... (Full Story & Photos)
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This rear suction inlet equipped with a top-performing suction strainer provides this pumper with a good opportunity to meet the 1000 gpm (and probably more) fill rate goal at this tanker fill site in Gladys, VA.
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Maiden Tanker 1 jet-dumping its first load of water.
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Hauling Water - North Carolina Style!
President Mark Davis, May 11
On May 7th, folks from several Catawba County (North Carolina) and surrounding jurisdictions spent their afternoon refining their water hauling skills as part of our 16-hr Rural Water Supply Operations Seminar that was sponsored by Catawba Valley Community College. The 2-hr drill was the culmination of two days of work reviewing the best practices associated with tanker operations. The seminar was ... (Full Story & Photos)
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What's on Your Engine Company #11 - A Big Pump
President Mark Davis, May 04
In many of our YouTube video clips and often during our classes you will hear us speak of the benefits of the "big" pump in the rural setting. One misconception of the big pump in the rural setting is that "we have nothing that needs a 2000 gpm fire flow." In the rural environment where tanker shuttles or LDH relays are the norm, the advantage of a large capacity pumper is the ability to pump the ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Patterson Engine 22-2-4 (2250 gpm) with triple suctions supporting a 1300 gpm flow and five transfer devices.
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Gladys VFD Tanker 1 (2500 gal) was one of 6 tankers hauling water during the 2-hour drill. Two fill sites (3-mile RT and 4-mile RT) were used to support the sustained 500 gpm flow.
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Hauling Water - Central Virginia Style!
President Mark Davis, April 27
On April 23rd, about 40 folks from the Campbell County region of central Virginia participated in a 2-hr rural water supply drill using 6 tankers and two fill sites. The drill culminated our 16-hr Rural Water Supply Operations Seminar that was sponsored by the Gladys Volunteer Fire Department and the Central Virginia Volunteer Firefighter’s Association. This was our first seminar in Virginia and ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Hauling Water - Finger Lakes Style!
President Mark Davis, April 20
On April 15th, more than 75 folks from the Seneca County, New York and surrounding region participated in a rural water supply drill using 13 tankers and two fills site. The drill culminated our 14-hr Rural Water Supply Operations Seminar that was sponsored by the Seneca County Department of Emergency Services and the Seneca County Chiefs Association and hosted by the Fayette Fire Department. This ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Thirteen tankers hauled water over a 10-mile roundtrip to support this rural water supply drill.
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Using two lengths of suction hose significantly reduced the load placed on the suction head.
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Dry Fire Hydrant Design #55 - Support Stanchion - Texas
President Mark Davis, April 13
The use of 45-degree elbows in dry fire hydrant design is important in reducing the friction loss in the designed system. This practice does not always work out due to the grade of the slope or the footprint available for installation, but it is the better choice. But as with most anything, there is always a disadvantage or two. With the 45-degree suction head there becomes the issue of downward ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Portable Pump Use #5 - Two Portables Used to Support Fill Site - Hartford, VT
President Mark Davis, April 06
From our 2011 seminar in Hartford, Vermont, two portable pumps were used to supply water from the Connecticut River to a 1,500 gpm pumper that then loaded tankers at just around the 1100 gpm mark. The portables supplied water to the pumper's front and officer side intakes and when not loading tankers, the water from the portable pumps travelled through the 1500 gpm midship pump out the driver's side ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Up and running. The LDH supply line reduced the pressure loss due to friction over the 300-ft hose lay.
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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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