I have been asked to extend sprinkler coverage to an addition, 17.5’ long x 13’ across. The ceiling is a cathedral ceiling, 13’ 2” at the ceiling and 9’ 3 “ high at the sidewall. The existing sprinkler piping is behind the 13’ wall, pointing down the 17.5’ length. No body can find plans from the original construction, there is not a hydraulic nameplate on the sprinkler system. The Fire Chief remembers that during construction, the water supply was “questionable”. There is not a forward flow port so I can not get a water GPM/psi measurement. There is a 1.5 “ FDC at the front of the building. There is a fire hydrant across the parking lot, about 75 feet away. The 5 year average for the static pressure is 34 psi and the residual is 27 psi, through the main drain.
The building is about 13 years old and is a retirement home. My concern is the lack of information about the water supply. The building is on a hill, about the level of the municipal water tank, which is on another hill. Can I get an accurate reading on the water supply from the fire hydrant, or the 2” main drain? Or should I put a Forward Flow test port in before doing anything else? And if I do get a good water reading, I still will not know what the system demand is. So then do I need to hire someone to crawl the attic and take measurements of the piping? _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org
