The central pumping unit alone could draw water from eight hydrants at once, drop lines into bodies of water, supply a mind-boggling number of lines with water simultaneously, and flow over 10,000 gallons per minute at low pressures if the situation called for it. When the pressure was ramped up to 350 psi, it could move 8,800 gpm.
By the time of its retirement in April 1982, FDNY's super pumper had responded to more than 2,200 calls. During its 17-year run, the super pumper and its tender and satellite tenders had responded to the biggest fires across the city's five boroughs; once it even took over the task of a failed pumping station in the city's municipal water supply.