Water in the basin that would be sucked into our pump is not filtered. Chances are that the maintenance will be sub-standard so no guarantee of tower water quality. The basin is sized for 5 towers but only 2 towers will most likely be installed so the rest of the basin will be open to atmosphere. Some of the particulate will be organic from handling of discarded vegetation.
Craig L. Prahl, CET Fire Protection CH2MHILL Lockwood Greene 1500 International Drive Spartanburg, SC 29304-0491 Direct - 864.599.4102 Fax - 864.599.8439 CH2MHILL Extension 74102 [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ron Greenman Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2010 1:03 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Cooling tower basin as water storage for fire pump Since the water is for a cooling tower is it treated (chlorinated)? That would take care of the MIC. Particulates too small to strain should not be a concern. I presume the cooling tower pumps are PD. If the filters work for them then that water also supplying a centrifugal should be no problem. Settling could be mitigated by filling from after the tower filters. This didn't sound like a tri-water system(s), but merely stand alone sprinkler systems that were either filled once and left stagnant or were flowing. On Wed, Dec 29, 2010 at 9:50 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Got a project in South America, poor to no municipal infrastructure for water > to serve the fire pump. Owner has issues with spending money for a tank and > wants to use the cooling tower basin as the fire pump water source. The > total capacity required is 675,000 gallons and the big issue is airborne > contaminants that will find their way in the open basin. The cooling water > systems will use filtration units to separate the contaminants but I've got > issue with this water being used for fire protection systems. Strainers will > not work, not fine enough to capture the particulate. The water coming in to > the basin isn't considered potable by our standards. > > My major concerns are MIC and clogging of sprinkler heads when this stuff > settles. We have a mix of Office wet pipe systems as well as outdoor exposed > dry pipe systems up to 100 ft in height. > > The problem with filtration may be the 3,750 gpm flow rate and the pressure > drop through the system on the suction side of the pump. > > Any thoughts, suggestions? > > My initial inclination is to reject the concept. The cost of the filtration > system would probably be close or more than an above ground storage tank. > > Craig L. Prahl, CET > Fire Protection > CH2MHILL > Lockwood Greene > 1500 International Drive > Spartanburg, SC 29304-0491 > Direct - 864.599.4102 > Fax - 864.599.8439 > CH2MHILL Extension 74102 > [email protected] > > > _______________________________________________ > 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) > -- Ron Greenman Instructor Fire Protection Engineering Technology Bates Technical College 1101 So. Yakima Ave. Tacoma, WA 98405 [email protected] http://www.bates.ctc.edu/fireprotection/ 253.680.7346 253.576.9700 (cell) Member: AFSA, SFPE, ASCET, NFPA, NFSA, AFAA, ASEE, NIBS, WSAFM, WFC They are happy men whose natures sort with their vocations. -Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (1561-1626) _______________________________________________ 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)
