The LWF Blog

Fire Safety for Facilities Management Personnel – Fire Service Facilities – Part 269

September 9, 2024 10:28 am

Lawrence Webster Forrest (LWF) is a specialist fire engineering and fire risk management consultancy whose aim is to give information on best practice in fire safety for facilities management personnel through this blog series. In part 268, LWF talked about foam inlets and private water supplies. In part 269, we continue discussing private water supplies.

An organisation’s private water supply typically comprises hydrants on the site’s private underground water mains. The hydrants are normally sited by the roadside and, preferably, are fed from a ring main. This enables the hydrant to be fed in two directions.

Guidance on the design, installation, testing and maintenance of private fire hydrants can be found in BS 9990. The standard recommends hydrants should be sited between 6 and 90 metres of an entrance to the building served.

The maximum permissible distance between hydrants provided should be no greater than 90 metres and the water supply should be sufficient to provide 1500 litres/minute. Hydrant locations should be marked by suitable signs and inspected and tested every year to ensure they remain suitable for use by the Fire Service.

Where suitable water mains are not provided, static and natural sources of water supply may be considered. The Fire Service may have pre-planned the use of sources like lakes, rivers, canals etc.

Liaison with the Fire Service prior to any incident may lead to the necessity for measures such as sumps and hard-standing for portable pumps to assist them in the use of the water supplies.

It is possible that, having consulted, the Fire Service may indicate that there is a shortfall of water and as such, it is likely that a dedicated emergency water supply will need to be provided, such as a water tank of suitable capacity – the suitable placement of which should also be discussed.

The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 covers the need of the Fire Service to obtain water for firefighting purposes. It should be noted that any works which may affect a fire hydrant on the premises must give notice to the Fire and Rescue Authority of at least six weeks. This is to ensure the Fire Service are not called out to a fire where no alternative arrangements have been made for water supply.

In part 270 of this series, LWF will begin to look at smoke control facilities which may be operated by the Fire Service. In the meantime, if you have any queries about your own facilities or wish to discuss this blog series, please contact LWF on freephone 0800 410 1130.

Lawrence Webster Forrest is a fire engineering consultancy based in Surrey with over 35 years’ experience, which provides a wide range of consultancy services to professionals involved in the design, development and construction and operation of buildings.

 

While care has been taken to ensure that information contained in LWF’s publications is true and correct at the time of publication, changes in circumstances after the time of publication may impact on the accuracy of this information.