Thought I would share…
Well, something I have not seen before, and not even sure what my actions would have been prior to seeing this post, is any, if I had ever come across these during an inspection…
(As posted on Facebook… not mine)
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I would likely come up with some professional way of saying this was really stupid in my Fire and life safety section of the report.
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I seen that on Facebook too. Reading some of the comments, it sounded like a black hydrant is a universal sign of a dead hydrant. I never knew that before. 
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From this article…a bit more. I would think the NFPA would be the standard.
OSHA also publishes standards to address hazards and protect water safety which encompasses water coming from hydrants. OSHA advises using color to distinguish between potable and non-potable water sources—with violet indicating the latter—and also recommends black paint for defunct or temporarily non-working hydrants.
But then
NFPA 291 does not mention the color black but it does address what to do in case of a permanently nonworking hydrant (remove it) or a temporarily nonworking unit (secure a bag over it):
5.2.2 Permanently Inoperative Hydrants. Fire hydrants that are permanently inoperative or unusable should be removed.
5.2.3 Temporarily Inoperative Hydrants. Fire hydrants that are temporarily inoperative or unusable should be wrapped or otherwise provided with temporary indication of their condition.
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One of my fave FB groups. Always learn something new. Not like the boring HI groups with the same old basic stuff from newbies.
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Although I don’t recall ever seeing a black fire hydrant, probably because I never looked for on, this is an interesting thread just the same.
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Here’s another interesting article, Black hydrants aren’t even on the chart.
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Inspectors are not the same! We are all different, great example.