I’m convinced that the explanation must be that they don’t want every contractor loading up on water while they’re in the Home Depot parking lot, thus stealing water AND screwing up the hydrant with their ham handed opening and closing. That makes a great deal more sense than the anti-terrorist option, and it explain why I’ve only seen it at the Home Depot lot.
Okay, I understand now. However, Omar Little has yet to provide a cite for these locks being a DHS requirement. I searched the DHS website for ‘fire hydrant security’ and found nothing, and the links he provided only seem to be from tin-foil hatters.
I work for a landscape company and I’m also convinced this is the reason. A lot of guys are happy to try and fill up and steal water rather than hassle with getting a meter/permit from the village and paying for the water. Either because of cost or because they just want the water now and aren’t going to bother with the bureaucracy.
And on top of that, if I was a terrorist and wanted to pump poison into the water system, I wouldn’t use a hydrant, I would just use a water spigot in a house or abandoned (or rented) warehouse in the area I wanted to poison. Hook up your poison, hook up your pump, get a little Honda generator if you need power, get everything started up and leave. I’d guess it would be days or even weeks before the source would be found and by then you could be long gone.
I also agree that this appears to be the most reasonable explanation.