Water Supply

A fundamental knowledge of hydraulics is indispensable to the fire protection engineer. It facilitates an understanding of municipal water supplies as well as private water supplies- such as gravity tanks, fire pumps etc.- leading to a projection of available flow and pressure at certain points in the distribution system.

The reliability of water supplies, electrical,  gas and other infrastructure in event of an earthquake is critical to the prevention of post-earthquake fires.

Vancouver has a secondary salt water supply system covering priority areas of Vancouver for contingency purposes in the event that the primary potable/fire supply is damaged by a seismic event.

The California Building Code requires secondary water supply systems in high buildings; however, there is no provision in Canadian codes- even for seismically active zones.

Due to a whole range of factors- not least of which is the mandating of water supplies for firefighting in the building code- there is much confusion about what water supply for firefighting actually should be- both in the context of the building code as well as in the context of the design of water supply infrastructure.

The question of what is an acceptable supply for fire protection? depends on the specific criteria for acceptance. In building code terms, this has long been controversial. At one time, virtually all water supply assessments were carried out by insurance groups of one kind or another. In terms of water supply infrastructure, Insurance Service offices in the USA and Fire Underwriters’ Survey (FUS) in Canada laid out criteria for acceptance and grading of water supplies in municipalities and their ability to fight fire through organization and logistical response.