Firefighting Water-supply System Requirements – a Critical Assessment
Journal Title: Safety & Fire Technology - Year 2017, Vol 48, Issue 48
Abstract
Aim: This paper is an attempt to interpret selected current requirements concerning the capacity of firefighting water supply networks. It points out inaccuracies which can cause difficulties in decision-making at the design stage and hinder the process of project coordination. The purpose of the paper is to initiate a discussion leading to appropriate legal changes. Introduction: The design of a water supply system with fire hydrants needs to be agreed on with a fire surveyor. However, the designer is not released from responsibility for the solutions used in the design. The binding requirements set out in the Minister of the Interior and Administration Regulation of 24 July 2009 on Fire-Fighting Water Supply and Fire Access Roads might cause interpretation issues regarding the capacity of water supply systems, the conditions for testing hydrant flow rates and the rules for selecting pipe diameters. Methodology: The paper presents an analysis of the existing regulations concerning the capacity of firefighting water supply systems for settlements. It addresses the problem of ambiguity related to the requirement for simultaneous water use from two adjacent fire hydrants for water supply systems with a total water demand exceeding 20 l/s. In this context, the paper attempts to interpret the Regulation governing the required flow rate of each of the two adjacent hydrants. Moreover, it draws attention to the need for clarifying for which structures the capacity of water supply systems used not only for fire protection can be calculated on the basis of reduced capacity for household and industrial purposes. In order to resolve these issues, the paper takes into consideration historical regulations underlying the mentioned Regulation. Conclusions: The existing Regulation contains a number of inaccuracies which make its interpretation difficult. Some of its provisions have lost their original meaning as a result of multiple amendments. Hence, it is necessary to introduce appropriate amendments to resolve the ambiguities. Over the past few years, the numerical modelling of water supply systems has come into wide use. Among other things, it allows the analysis of how water supply systems operate when used for firefighting purposes. Such analysis should be considered a measure to assess the capacity of firefighting water supply systems and facilitate the choice of pipeline diameters.
Authors and Affiliations
Grzegorz Ścieranka
Keywords
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- EP ID EP265311
- DOI 10.12845/bitp.48.4.2017.9
- Views 75
- Downloads 0
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