Water cannon

Awater cannonis a device that shoots a high-velocity stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of meters. They are used infirefighting,large vehicle washing,riot control,and mining. Most water cannons fall under the category of afire monitor.

Water cannon used for crowd control in Jerusalem duringthe 2020 protests against Benjamin Netanyahu

Water cannon during a German demonstration, 2001

Firefighting

Main article:Fire monitor

Water cannons were first devised for use onfireboats.Extinguishing fires on boats and buildings near the water was much more difficult and dangerous before fireboats were invented. The first fireboat deployed in Los Angeles was commissioned on 1 August 1919. The first fireboat in New York City wasMarine 1,deployed 1 February 1891. There may have been other fireboats elsewhere even earlier.

Fire trucksdeliver water with much the same force and volume as water cannons, and have even been used in riot control situations, but are rarely referred to as water cannons outside this context.

Riot control

First German Police water cannon

The first truck-mounted water cannon was used for riot control in Germany in the beginning of the 1930s.

The most modern versions do not expose the operator to the riot, and are controlled remotely from within the vehicle by ajoystick.The Austrian-built WaWe 10.000 by Rosenbauer used by German police can carry 10,000 litres (2,200 imp gal) of water, which can deploy water in all directions via three cannons, all of which are remotely controlled from inside the vehicle by a joystick. The vehicle has two forward cannons with a delivery rate of 20 litres per second (260 imp gal/min), and one rear cannon with a delivery rate of 15 litres per second (200 imp gal/min)

Activating a water cannon against demonstrators in Tel Avivת May 2024

Water cannons designed for riot control are still made in the United States and the United Kingdom, but most products are exported, particularly to Africa and parts of Asia such as Indonesia.

Safety

Use of water cannon in riot control contexts can lead to injury or death,with fatalities recorded in Indonesia (in 1996, when the cannon's payload contained ammonia),Zimbabwe (in 2007, when the use of cannons on a peaceful crowd caused panic),Turkey (in 2013, when the payload was laced with "liquid tear gas"),Ukraine (in 2014, with the death of activist and businessman Bogdan Kalynyak, reportedly catching pneumonia after being sprayed by a water cannon in freezing temperatures)and South Korea (in 2016, when a 68-year-old farmer died after injuries sustained by a water cannon the previous year). Water cannons in use during the 1960s, which were generally adaptedfire trucks,would knock protesters down and on occasion, tear their clothes.

On 30 September 2010, during a protest demonstration against theStuttgart 21 projectin Germany, a demonstrator was hit in the face by a water cannon.Dietrich Wagner,a retired engineer, suffered damage to his eyelids and retinas,resulting in near-complete loss of his eyesight.Graphic imagery was recorded of the event, sparking a national debate aboutpolice brutalityand proportionality in the use of state force.

According to a report issued in the United Kingdom,usingplastic bulletsinstead of water cannons was justified because the latter "are inflexible and indiscriminate", although several people had previously been killedor seriously injured by plastic bullets.

Media effect

The presence of the media at riots has had a significant impact on water cannon use. There is much pressure on police departments to avoid bad publicity, and water cannons often play badly in the press. It is considered that this is a likely reasonthat they are not used more often in some countries.

Confrontations that took place in the era of theAmerican Civil Rights Movement,where water cannons were used by authorities to disperse crowds of protesting African Americans, has led to the demise of water cannons in the United States.

Alternative payload

Dye

In 1997 pink dye was reportedly added to the water used by South Korean and Indonesian police to disperse a riot.The implication is that they might use this mark to make it easier to arrest rioters later. The United Kingdom, which had sold the water cannon to Indonesia, condemned this practice (although theRoyal Ulster Constabularyhad used a water cannon with purple dye duringThe Troublesin Northern Ireland) but later approved the sale of further water cannons to them. Most modern water cannons are also capable of adding tear gas to the stream.

Electrified water jet

In 2004 Jaycor Tactical Systems was experimenting with additives (salt and additives to reduce the breakup of the stream into droplets) that would allow electricity to be conducted through water. They have demonstrated delivery from a distance of up to 20 ft (6.1 m), but have not yet tested the device on people.

Although referred to as an electrified water cannon, this experiment involved a water jet much less powerful than a water cannon.

Other types

Water cannon differ from other similar devices in the volume of water delivered in a given time, the nozzle speed, the pressure that it is delivered at, and to a lesser extent the total volume that can be delivered. They are also generally portable. The method of employment is also important in labeling a device a water cannon. Nevertheless, the distinction between a water cannon and other similar devices is fuzzy. For example:-

• Pressure washersgenerally produce an extremely high pressure stream where the power of the stream drops off significantly over a very short distance.
• Water pistolsand other toys deliver much lower volumes of water at a much lower pressure.
• Ultra high pressurewater jet cuttersare used to cut a wide variety of materials includinggranite,concrete (seehydrodemolition),ceramics,fabric and evenKevlar.One such cutter delivers 55,000 psi (380 MPa) through a nozzle 0.003 inches (76 μm) in diameter at 1 kilometre per second, which can cut a person at a close range. There are reports of accidental deaths involving the industrial use of high-pressure water.

Usage

Water cannon are still in large scale use in Chile, Belgium, the Netherlands and other parts of the world.

Australia

The state ofNew South Walespurchased a water cannon in 2007 with a view to using it during anAPECmeeting in Sydney that year.It was not used.It was the first purchase of a water cannon in Australia.

Germany

WaWe 10000 –Dresden

The annual riots on 1 May in Berlin, the Schanzenfest fair in Hamburg, which regularly ends in riots, or other demonstrations, are usually accompanied by water cannon, which support riot police. The most commonly used water cannon in Germany over years was theWasserwerfer 9000.Since 2019, the only water cannon type used by riot police, which are around 50 units in total, is theWasserwerfer 10000.

Hong Kong

Specialised crowd management vehicle, the water cannon ofHong Kong Police Forcewas shooting with blue-dyed water duringHong Kong protests.

Three truck-mounted water cannon, officially known as 'Specialised Crowd Management Vehicles', were purchased byHong Kong Policefrom France in mid-2018.The truck chassis were provided byMercedes-Benzand the water spray devices were also made by German firm Ziegler.The three water cannon cost HK$27 million to purchase, a sum that was criticised as overpriced.The vehicles were frequently used by police on participants and bystanders during the2019–20 Hong Kong protests.Blue dye was often added to the water to allow police to identify protesters. Pepper spray solution was also an ingredient.

On 20 October 2019, police used a water cannon to target and shoot a small group of pedestrians standing outsideKowloon Mosque,inTsim Sha Tsui,using blue-dyed water mixed with a pepper solution. A large number of Hong Kong residents spontaneously went to the scene to clean up, with the incident resulting in an increased sense of inclusiveness among the Hong Kong public toward the city's Muslim and other minorities.

Israel

Since the 1980s, Israel has been exporting water cannons to numerous countries around the world.Bet Alpha Technologies, a company owned byKibbutzBet Alpha,has sold water cannons to Russia,China,Turkey,United States,Latvia, Zambia, Argentina and Swazilandamounting to millions of dollars in sales. TheIsrael Policehave made extensive use of water cannons during demonstrations. Its water canons are capable of spraying jets of water,paint(used to mark protesters for later arrest),gas,andSkunkin long or short pulses in an effective range of 40 meters. They are controlled controlled by ajoystickand set of cameras and is equipped with amine plowallows the vehicle to break through and push through hard barriers likebarricadesplaced on the road. During the2023 Israeli judicial reform protests,theIsrael Policeallegedly violated its own procedures when on several occasions they fired water streams directly toward protesters' heads, causing damage to the vision of some of them.

Thailand

During the2020 Thai protests,on 16 October 2020, the police used water cannon claimed to have water containing an irritant that made protesters' eyes sting to disperse a peaceful protest in Bangkok.

Turkey

TheTurkish policewater cannonTOMAhas been used against protesters many times, including the2013 protests in Turkey,and are often present at protests of all sizes.

United Kingdom

Only six water cannons are operational in the United Kingdom, all held by thePolice Service of Northern Ireland(PSNI); these are Somati RCV9000 Vehicle Mounted Water Cannons built onGINAFchassis, which after extensive evaluation by aDefence Scientific Advisory Councilsub-committee as a less-lethal replacement ofbaton rounds,began to enter service with the PSNI from 2004 onwards.Water cannon use outside Northern Ireland is not approved, and would require the statutory authorisation from the Home Secretary for use inEngland and Walesor the parliament of Scotland for use in Scotland.

In June 2014, London'sDeputy Mayor for Policing and CrimeStephen Greenhalghauthorised theMetropolitan Policeto buy three-second-handWasserwerfer 9000sfrom theGerman Federal Police.Mayor of LondonBoris Johnsonsaid that the purchase had been authorised before Parliamentary approval, as the three cannons cost £218,000 to purchase and would require a further £125,000 of work before being deemed suitable for service, as opposed to £870,000 for a single new machine.But after a study of their safety and effectiveness, Home SecretaryTheresa Maysaid in Parliament in July 2015 that she had decided not to license them for use.They were sold in November 2018 with the intention that they were to be broken up for spare parts.

United States

Truck-based water cannon, and fire hoses used as improvised water cannons, were used widely in the United States during the 1960s for both riot control and suppressing peaceful civil rights marches, including the infamous use ordered byEugene "Bull" ConnorinBirmingham, Alabama in 1963.The newsreel footage of police turning water cannons and police dogs on civilians—both student protesters and bystanders alike, including children as young as six—widely viewed as shocking and inappropriate and helped turn public sympathies towards civil rights.Water cannons were used in November 2016 during theDakota Access Pipeline protests.In August 2020, state senator Floyd Prozanski suggested water cannons be used by police against protesters in Portland, Oregon.

Mining

Main article:Hydraulic mining

A miner using a hydraulic jet to mine for gold in California, fromThe Century MagazineJanuary 1883

Water cannons are used in hydraulic mining to dislodge rock material or move sediment. In theplacer miningof gold ortin,the resulting water-sediment slurry is directed throughsluiceboxes to remove the gold. It is also used in miningkaolinand coal.

Gallery

• 
  Polish Police'sAnti-Riot Detachment, filming a gathering. The film can later be presented during a trial asevidence.A water cannon is seen in the background.
• 
  Croatian Policewater cannon CVT-6000
• 
  German policewater cannon WaWe 9000 featuring a 9,000-litre (2,000 imp gal; 2,400 US gal) tank
• 
  French National Policewater cannon
• 
  Water cannon of the French National Police deployed to prevent rioting followingNicolas Sarkozy's election, 6 May 2007
• 
  Demonstration againstG8meeting inHamburg,9 May 2007
• 
  ADutch policewater cannon.
• 
  Water cannon unit ofTokyo Metropolitan Police Department'sKidotai (riot police).The base vehicle is aMitsubishi Fuso Fighter.
• 
  MoscowOMONriot control water cannon police vehicle "Lavina-Uragan" on Ural-532362.
• 
  Russian Internal TroopsABS-40 "Lavina" riot control water cannon on BAZ-6953 chassis
• 
  Riot control water cannon vehicle of theIndonesian Police'sMobile Brigade Corps.
• 
  Water cannon vehicle of police of Panama, colloquially namedPitufo( "Smurf" ).
• 
  ISBI armored riot truck with 11,500-liter water capacity being deployed byColombian police
• 
  TOMAin action, Turkey

Other meanings

The term "water cannon" could also refer to:-

• Similar land vehicles used for firefighting
• Numerous large toys, for example images
• Waterjet inhydraulic mining
• A type of railway wagon used to remove fallenleavesoff the track: e.g.seen at Alexandra Palace on 25 October 2003
• Tool for powerwashing large construction equipment.

See also

• Non-lethal weapon
• Water gun
• Riot police