Fire Pump Serving Combined FP/DW System

[KLH]

Hello all,

We are designing a fire alarm system for an existing campus distribution system. When reviewing the existing drawings for locations of flow and tamper switches, we saw that the existing campus uses a fire pump to serve a combined system...both domestic and sprinkler.

I've never seen this done. I can't find any standard in the National Standard Plumbing Code that specifically requires a domestic water pump to meet a certain standard (AWWA, etc.)

Has anybody had an experience like this?

Thanks,
Ken

 

[cdafd]

You mean strange things go on at college campuses????

Where in the distribution system is the pump located??

Is it kind of as the water goes on to the campus??

Is it in one building and looks like it should be dedicated to a fire protection system???

Is there a local ahj you can talk to to shed some light on the set up???

When you say domestic, do you know what all it feeds???

 

[KLH]

Strange things indeed!

The main comes in from the street to the fire pump. The fire pump discharge feeds several buildings. At each building, the service enters and splits: one branch feeds the sprinkler system and the other branch feeds the domestic water system (sinks, showers, water coolers, etc.)

We have a meeting with the AHJ next week.

 

[TravisMack]

I would not want my fire pump turning on every time some one opens a domestic faucet. You may want to see about getting a larger jockey pump to keep up with domestic demand, then have the fire pump kick in with the larger fire demands. I have seen this done on projects in the past.

Travis Mack
MFP Design, LLC

http://www.mfpdesign.com