Firewater Systems: Bypass of pumping station

Challenge:
Our customer needed to perform mandatory maintenance work on a firewater tank and its associated pumps as required by their insurers. 
The challenge was to install a bypass solution linked to the existing fire alarm system that would activate electric pumps and feed the fire pump sprinkler system at the correct pressure.

Solution: 
United Rentals designed an integrated solution to bypass the pumping station using the following equipment:

• Due to the flow rate and pressure required from the pumping system, a 6” Electric Centrifugal Pump was used to deliver firewater directly to the sprinkler system bypassing the fire pump. Our customer used their own power supply, with signals from the alarm system.
• United Rentals installed 5 x 70m³ Lined Tanks to store the firewater being transferred through the centrifugal pump.
• The tanks were connected by Hoses and Manifolds to feed back to the fire pump and sprinklers, acting as temporary additional storage if required.

Benefits: 
Thanks to the United Rentals bypass solution the customer was able to perform the required maintenance safely. Our Electric Centrifugal Pumps were wired to an existing automatic switch, further reducing human intervention during the process. The storage tanks provided additional capacity if required, so the whole system was “plug and play”. By bypassing the pump station our customer made significant cost savings. There was no downtime because the facility remained operational throughout the maintenance period and they enjoyed the reassurance that their plant continued to be protected even in the event of a fire.