Old Hydrant and Valve Marker Plates
Marker plates, which indicate the location of hydrants or valves, can be found all over Lviv. T hey are on just about every building that was built before WWII. The plates ensure that a hudrant or valve can be found, in case, for example, the road is covered in mud or snow. Many of the original metal (Austrian-era) plates still exist — though some have been plastered or painted over, and, of course, others have been removed or stolen. The three most common plates have the letter “H,” “S,” or “Z” — abbrevations for Polish words (Polish was the main official language in Austrian and interwar Galica): “H” stands for the Polish word “ hydrant ” — fire hydrant; “S” stands for the Polish word “ spust ” — the valve that flushes water from the system; “Z” stands for the Polish word “ zasuwa ” — the valve for stopping the flow of water (stop valve). Marker plates with the sorts of covers they point to Th...