Fire hydrants are not owned by the fire district. They are either county owned or privately owned.
There are several kinds of fire hydrants – wet and dry. Dry hydrants are usually located in the rural areas of the fire district in areas where there are no water distribution lines. Dry hydrants are installed, repaired, and maintained by the property owner the dry hydrant is located on. In some cases, the owner is the Homeowner’s Association.
Wet hydrants are better known as municipal hydrants and are located where water distribution lines are. There are two kinds – public and private. Public hydrants are located in the public right-of-way and are owned and maintained by Manatee County Government. They should be painted safety yellow. Private hydrants on private roads or private property are owned by the landowner who is responsible for their repair and maintenance. They should be painted safety red.
In 2025, the fire district contracted with a painting vendor to 1) change private hydrants that were still yellow and paint them red to comply with the color standard adopted in Manatee County in 2017, and 2) paint the worst of the public hydrants yellow again. With over 3,900 fire hydrants in the fire district, the painting contract did not cover all of them before the project was completed. The painting of fire hydrants is now the responsibility of the right-of-way or property owner.
The fire district does test each fire hydrant (dry, public, and private) in the district annually to make sure it operates correctly.