Well, I've talked myself out of this idea. I spoke with a guy I work with who is a volunteer fireman and he echoed Philbo's comment about getting pretty dirty water. He also said that when they use a hydrant it stirs up a lot of sediment and unless they flush the line for quite some time afterwards, your neighbors are likely to have dirty water coming out of their faucets.

We are in a new house with new neighbors and I certainly don't want to start out on the wrong foot, besides I wouldn't be too happy if that were done to us.

I guess I'll be stringing out the hoses.