What about variances in water pressure? I think blanket statements like that are dangerous when the pressure available within the same water system can vary much more than expected when you start doing residential. A 2 mile dead end 3" water main feeding a street with 2" schedule 40 UG can give you a very steep curve. That is why we personally calc every system and find inconsistent results.
I have an existing system right now with an existing 5/8" meter that we have to add on to that works as long as you don't exceed 13 gpm each for 2 heads. In our county, 3/4" meters are not used any longer - you have 5/8" and 1". There are multiple systems out there in which the owners/contractors including me personally had to make a decision on whether to increase the meter size or make a separate tap in order to get the system to work. We have also had to tell owners that they need to increase from 1" to 1-1/2" meters due to building features that required sidewalls with large coverage areas and others where 3 heads had to be flowed at the higher flows. I do not encourage getting too simple for 2 reasons: 1) Amateurs who don't understand the brevity of what we do making hasty decisions about pipe sizing etc. 2) I believe that there is too much disparity in home construction and water supplies and the devices said water supplies feed - (lawn sprinklers, etc) to oversimplify. I can flush my toilet without burning anyone in the shower at my house, but I have lived in many and know many more where that is not true. If the simple plumbing plan can cause inconveniences such as these, I shudder to think of the fallout of oversimplifying this issue and then having a failure where the Fire Sprinkler opponents can sink their teeth into. Greg McGahan Living Water Fire Protection (850) 937.1850 | Fax (850) 937.1852 | Cell (850) 554.3231 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of steve Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 11:59 AM To: AFSA Subject: Re: Size of Residential Water Taps, Fees, Meters,and Backflow Preventers Will you be adding concurrent domestic flow allowance? If so, will the AHJ's require it to be counted against the meter size? There are 3/4" meters rated for 35GPM that will adequately serve many 2-sprinkler demands; I would recommend 1" min service lateral size and 3/4" min meters and try to negotiate an up-size option that won't cost thousands of $$ that way the homebuilder and sprinkler designer can fine-tune the design and the water service. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry -----Original Message----- From: "G. Tim Stone" <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:14:56 To: <[email protected]> Subject: RE: Size of Residential Water Taps, Fees, Meters,and Backflow Preventers Steve, Construction details for the house may determine water line size also. Homes with steeply pitched ceilings may require the designer to include extra heads in the design area. Residential heads are not listed for ceilings with pitches greater than 8 in 12. I believe a 2" water line into the structure would be the safer bet no matter what the design of the house is. G. Tim Stone NICET Level III Engineering Technician Fire Protection Sprinkler Design and Consulting Services 117 Old Stage Rd. - Essex Jct., VT. 05452 TEL: (802) 434-2968 Fax: (802) 434-4343 [email protected] > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:sprinklerforum- > <mailto:sprinklerforum-> > [email protected]] On Behalf Of Steve Kowkabany > Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 8:54 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Size of Residentail Water Taps, Fees, Meters, and Backflow > Preventers > > The fire department and local water utility of Jacksonville are > currently > working together to figure out what will be required for the new > residential > sprinkler requirement. I've been invited to participate and they are > looking to me to provide some guidance on what will be required for > each new > single family home in terms of water hookups to accommodate a new 13D > system. > > > > Somehow, the water department got the idea that they will need 2" taps > for > each house. I know that is way too big, but I am curious - what have > you > been seeing for line sizes for single family homes? Also, has it > typically > been a single line or two separate taps. I would think that a 1" > service > would suffice for a two head calc and max flow of 30 gpm or so with > average > water supplies. It's pretty flat here and this utility is fairly > consistent > with water supplies that test at 60/50 at 1,000 gpm or so. I'm also > curious > about any special meter requirements, backflow requirements, or tap > fees > that your area is implementing. > > > > Any feedback would be great appreciated and helpful for us in setting > the > course for what will hopefully be the beginning a new era in Florida > where > each new house is sprinklered. > > > > Thanks for your help, > > > > > > Steve Kowkabany, P.E. > > Fire Protection Engineer > > Neptune Fire Protection Engineering LLC > > 60 Ocean Boulevard, Suite 15 > > Atlantic Beach, FL 32233 > > 904-652-4200 Phone > > 904-212-0868 Fax > > > > _______________________________________________ > Sprinklerforum mailing list > [email protected] > http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum > <http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum> > > For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] > > To Unsubscribe, send an email to:Sprinklerforum- > [email protected] > (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum <http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum> For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4946 (20100315)__________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com <http://www.eset.com> _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
