Fire hydrant

[Barny]

Hi all

 

we have a planning condition to install a fire hydrant within 90m of our new build. Anglian water have kindly confirmed there is not the infrastructure to do this so we would need to pay for several miles of new water main. HELP!!!

 

has anyone had this problem and come up with acceptable alternatives to a fire hydrant?

 

seriously panicking now - fire hydrant would cost more than several houses!

[Carrerahill]

Is this purely for fire extinguishing in your build?

 

Without knowing more details I may be going off on a tangent, however, if for fire suppression in your own home, then sprinkler tank?

 

We are currently building a care home in a village, the water authority has said they cannot give us the flow rate for sprinkler tank makeup, so we are specifying a 21,000 litre tank, which meets the needs of the sprinkler system within a large 2 storey care home. Do you see where I am going with this?

 

I will also say that as the water authority cannot give a decent enough supply to continually fill the tank during use, it clearly would not be able to support a hydrant, so if a care home full of elderly, potentially immobile residents can be served by tanked water, then why can't your house?

Edited October 26, 2023 by Carrerahill

[Barny]

Thanks Carrerahill. 21000 lt tank would be preferable to the £1m for a new water main!! How big is your care home m2? Thanks

[Carrerahill]

14 minutes ago, Barny said:

Thanks Carrerahill. 21000 lt tank would be preferable to the £1m for a new water main!! How big is your care home m2? Thanks

5692m²

 

The tank size was calculated based on a minimal infill water of 0.7l/s (nothing), that tank also includes the un-useable volume. 

 

 

[joe90]

Not wishing to off topic @Carrerahill but is 0.7lmin enough for domestic water use for such a build?

[Carrerahill]

10 minutes ago, joe90 said:

Not wishing to off topic @Carrerahill but is 0.7lmin enough for domestic water use for such a build?

No idea, almost certainly not (something my mechanical colleagues would deal with) but that is the rate we used to calc the tank size, in other words we based the tank on having an infill rate so low it didn't really count and it makes the tank essentially a standalone water source for suppression. The structural engineer wasn't too pleased we added 21 tons to the structure! 

[Conor]

1 hour ago, Barny said:

Hi all

 

we have a planning condition to install a fire hydrant within 90m of our new build. Anglian water have kindly confirmed there is not the infrastructure to do this so we would need to pay for several miles of new water main. HELP!!!

 

has anyone had this problem and come up with acceptable alternatives to a fire hydrant?

 

seriously panicking now - fire hydrant would cost more than several houses!

What's your water supply going to be then if there are no mains nearby? Borehole?

[Carrerahill]

21 minutes ago, Conor said:

What's your water supply going to be then if there are no mains nearby? Borehole?

I assume he has water, just not a large enough supply to support a fire hydrant so he needs upstream network reinforcements, at his cost!

[Mr Punter]

Sprinklers and a tank will normally be acceptable.

[Barny]

The water supply to the village is 2” pipe so not enough for 8lt per second for a hydrant. Anglian water also said even if they put a new main in thy couldn’t guarantee it would have 8lt per second due to other demands in the system. I have reached out to fire dept hoping we can agree storage and sprinklers as a solution. We will be the only house in the village to have means to put out a fire!

[kandgmitchell]

Well the planners didn't think this one up themselves. There would be some consultation with the local fire authority on that file somewhere. Find that on-line and see what the FA actually said. Then track down the officer who did the consult and have a chat with them. I've found most fire officers helpful. See what alternatives they can suggest. You will need to take note of B5 in the Building Regulations (where 100m is mentioned) and the Approved Document gives the option of "any other water supply that the local fire and rescue service considers appropriate". So early discussions would be useful on both counts.

[Mr Punter]

Also one one project the local fire authority were willing to relax their requirement for a vehicle turning head on the drive sized to accommodate a fire appliance so it is worth engaging with them.

[Barny]

Thanks All for your help. The fire department have now helpfully confirmed that the initial flow rate was just guidance and they only require a hydrant attaching to the local mains that supplies the house. Our water main is a 2” pipe (as we are quite off the beaten track) - is anyone aware if the water board can just put a hydrant attachment onto a pipe that small? I have a query in with AW but they are going to take 3 weeks to reply - just wondered if anyone knew if this was possible?

[kandgmitchell]

3 weeks! When trying to sort out our new connection I found AW really helpful. Not sure who you talking to. Might be worth a try speaking to their new connections team "about a new supply" and then spring the query onto them as arguably it is a new supply of sorts..... Glad the FA were helpful.