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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Hauling Water - New Hampshire Style!
President Mark Davis, September 28
On Sunday afternoon September 24th, folks from the Atkinson FD and several surrounding towns worked together to operate a 2-hr tanker shuttle as part of the 16-hr Rural Water Supply Operations Seminar that was sponsored and hosted by the Atkinson FD. The crews used three engines and seven tankers to support the operation where water flow peaked at 1,000 gpm. Two fill sites were used; each one a ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Seven tankers and three engines were used to support the 1000 gpm flow during the drill. Atkinson Engine 1 (1500 gpm) operated the dump site.
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Fire protection water for a residential subdivision.
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Underground Tank - Montana
President Mark Davis, September 21
Many thanks to Byron Dorough, one of our water supply enthusiast followers for supplying the photos and info for this story. Byron found this 30,000-gallon tank while traveling through Billings, Montana and snapped a few photos. The concrete tank is located at the entrance to a small, residential development and most likely was installed as fire protection water for the development. We also suspect ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Dry Hydrant Design #58 - Jericho, Vermont
President Mark Davis, September 14
On September 11th we completed another bridge-mount dry fire hydrant installation for the Vermont Rural Fire Protection Task Force. This time, the installation was in northern Vermont about 9 miles east of Burlington. Earlier in the year folks from the Underhill-Jericho FD contacted us about a possible installation on Fitzsimmonds Road at the bridge over Mill Brook. In April we paid a visit to assess ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Another successful bridge-mount DFH installation for the Vermont Rural Fire Protection Task Force.
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Engine 683 drafts and flow tests the new installation on Donation Road.
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Dry Hydrant Design #57 - Three Bridge Mounts for Greene Twp, PA
President Mark Davis, August 31
Last weekend we traveled to Greene Township, Pennsylvania (Erie County) and installed three of our bridge-mount dry fire hydrants. All three of the installations used our saddle-mount design as well as ETT suction heads and stream strainers. The project was sponsored by the Kuhl Hose Fire Department and was funded in part using State grant monies. Each installation produced a flow around 1000 gpm ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Hauling Water - Yorkana Style
President Mark Davis, August 24
On August 20th, crews from Community Fire Co. 1 of Yorkana and surrounding areas worked to haul water for 2-hours using tankers as part of our 16-hr Rural Water Supply Operations Seminar. Four engines and four tankers were used to support the 2-hour operation during which a peak flow of 750 gpm was achieved during the latter part of the drill. One of the challenges during the drill was the loss of ... (Full Story & Photos)
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Yorkana Tanker 38 pumps the siamese during the early moments of the drill.
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This short piece of flex hose and some simple pipe fittings allow pump and roll capability on this 3000 gallon tender.
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What's on Your Tanker #46 - Pump and Roll - A Different Approach
President Mark Davis, August 10
During our recent work in Wheatland County, Alberta we got to see Rosebud FD W-63 in action as a water hauler rig...however...we also spotted a pretty unique feature regarding pump-and-roll capability. Wheatland County is comprised of a huge amount of rangeland and prairie farmland and fires associated with those types of open range terrains are common. The folks at Rosebud FD have W-63 rigged up ... (Full Story & Photos)
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What's On Your Tanker 45 - A Moving Toolbox
President Mark Davis, August 03
In a large-scale water supply operation involving a tanker shuttle, tankers make stops at two important places....the off-loading site and the reloading site. The well-equipped tanker carries "extra" stuff that might be needed at either of those two places: appliances, suction hose, adaptors, etc. The single photo shown in this News Story illustrates a pretty good tale early in the buildout of a ... (Full Story & Photos)
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A nice cache of appliances at this dump site courtesy the first two arriving tankers.
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Hauling Water - Wheatland County, Alberta Style!
President Mark Davis, July 27
On July 23rd, about 30 folks from several fire halls in Wheatland County, Alberta spent their Sunday afternoon hauling water with tenders. The 2-hour drill was the culmination of our 16-hr Rural Water Supply Operations Seminar that was sponsored and hosted by Wheatland County Fire Services. The weekend began with a morning classroom session reviewing the best practices of hauling water with tenders. ... (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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