fire flow requirements
fire flow requirements
(OP)
I am working on a Preliminary Report for a water supply scheme, mainly rural in nature but with some villages. I am trying to find some definitive guidelines in relation to fire flows, i.e. what fire flows to provide in villages and rural areas, how long the fire flow should be available, at what pressure, and is it usually modelled with peak demand or average demands??





RE: fire flow requirements
NFPA guide is a good reference.
RE: fire flow requirements
If there is a fire department around, talk to them. If there is no fire protection now, the fire department will likely be thrilled to get almost anything. 1,000 gpm to 1,500 gpm is really considered the minimum now days. 2-hour durations are in order for these flows; if higher flows, you'll want to provide storage/ pumping for a longer period of time. Take into consideration water quality degradation issues though if the system is so small that water age creeps up there with a large tank. Is your fire system also a potable distribution system? If so, you'll need to consider system pressures under fire flow conditions. Typically you'll want to provide fire flows such that the minimum pressure in the potable system remains above about 20 psi. You could also consider providing water cisterns for the fire department to draft from. Maybe you can consider lakes/ ponds sources if you have them in close proximity to the various villages.
RE: fire flow requirements