A well-maintained fire sprinkler system is essential for any commercial or industrial property. Not only can they protect lives and property from fires, but they also offer effective fire prevention and suppression security even when the building is unoccupied.
While there is no arguing about the importance of a fire sprinkler system, they are susceptible to leaks and accidental activations, which can result in substantial water waste. Not only does this impact the environment, but the wasted water can also cause significant water damage to your property and even compromise the reliability of the fire sprinkler system itself.
Today, we are going to explain the environmental implications of water waste from a fire sprinkler system, the importance of regular maintenance in preventing water waste, and how the Shutgun Fire Sprinkler Shut Off Tool can serve as an affordable, easy-to-use solution to misfires, accidental activations, and sprinkler heads that continue to run after they have successfully extinguished a fire!
How Do Fire Sprinkler Systems Cause Water Waste?
For the most part, fire sprinkler systems expel clean water pumped from the same water supply lines that lead to bathroom and kitchen fixtures. This means that any water they use outside of times when they are suppressing fires is waste.
This can occur for three reasons:
1. Accidental Activations and Misfires
Given that a single fire sprinkler head can release up to 60 gallons of water per minute, even a single misfire can waste hundreds or even thousands of gallons of water. The high discharge rate also means that a running fire sprinkler head can cause significant water damage if not quickly deactivated.
2. Undetected Leaks
If a fire sprinkler system is allowed to leak, it can cause prolonged water waste. Even if it seems like a small trickle or occasional dripping, given enough time, the water wastage can add up to a significant volume. Plus, leaks can signal bigger problems, such as internal corrosion or impact damage. Again, this could cause water damage and impact the sprinkler system’s ability to extinguish a fire when needed.
3. A Fire Sprinkler System Continues to Expel Water After Extinguishing a Fire
Even if the fire sprinkler system was activated for the correct reasons, it could still waste a significant amount of water if it is allowed to continue running after the fire has been fully and safely extinguished.
This is because fire sprinkler systems do not shut off automatically after they have been activated by the high temperatures that would indicate the presence of a fire. Again, this can cause costly water damage, even if it does result in the prevention of fire damage.
Why Is It Important to Conserve Water?
Before we get into the environmental consequences of water wastage, the safety risk of wasting water if your system relies on a water tank is worth mentioning. Most systems draw water from standard water supply lines; some use a water tank.
Naturally, any water waste with this type of system would reduce the amount of water the system could pull from in the event of a fire, significantly reducing its effectiveness as a fire prevention and suppression system.
However, running out is not an issue, even if your system uses a standard water supply line, as water waste can damage the environment. Fresh water is a resource that should be protected. Even if you live in an area with plenty of fresh water, treating and pumping water requires significant energy.
Furthermore, excessive water waste can overload drainage systems and pull contaminants, such as chemicals and other pollutants, into natural bodies of water.
How Water Waste Causes Water Damage
When water leaks from a fire sprinkler system or is discharged at full capacity due to a misfire, it can cause serious structural damage to the property. As mentioned, this can even occur if a sprinkler system puts out a fire but continues to expel water for a significant amount of time before being deactivated.
Water can damage ceilings, walls, flooring, inventory, and equipment, and even small, hidden leaks can spread mold and mildew. The longer this undetected water waste is allowed to continue, the more damage it will cause.
In many cases, water damage resulting from a damaged system would not qualify for insurance coverage, as it would indicate that the fire sprinkler system was not inspected and maintained at regular intervals.
How to Prevent Fire Sprinkler System Water Waste
The first way to reduce the likelihood of fire sprinkler-related water damage is to have your system inspected and maintained at regular intervals by trained professionals. These inspections will identify potential causes of water waste and address them before they can cause serious water damage.
For accidental activations and fire sprinkler heads that continue to run after they have extinguished a fire, an even simpler solution is to introduce the Shutgun Fire Sprinkler Shut-Off Tool!
This simple tool allows you to deactivate a sprinkler head in seconds. Rather than waiting for first responders or a fire sprinkler service team to arrive, you can take action yourself and prevent tens of thousands of dollars in water damage and waste that would cause so much damage to the environment and local water table.
We highly recommend including one Shutgun Tool with every fire extinguisher to protect your property from water damage. This ensures that the Shutgun will be easy to find in an emergency and increases the likelihood that one will be near every fire sprinkler head, saving you precious minutes in the event of a full discharge.
Building your own Custom Shutgun Case is one of the easiest ways to ensure you have the correct number and type of Shutgun Tools for your specific needs. We offer a Shutgun for each of the major types of fire sprinkler heads, including a Concealed Head Shutgun and a Sheared Head Shutgun.
Final Words
While water waste may seem like a relatively minor issue in comparison to the devastating impact of an uncontrolled fire, there are plenty of preventative measures that you can take to ensure that your fire sprinkler system can be relied upon and will not waste water unnecessarily.
Regularly testing and servicing your fire sprinkler system can help you identify and address leaks before they result in serious water damage and wastage. Scheduling immediate repairs for any issues spotted or uncovered during an inspection can also help. Any signs of leaks, corrosion, or visible damage should be addressed quickly and professionally.
Finally, investing in the right number of Shutgun Tools for your specific facility can be one of the ultimate solutions to water waste and damage. Mitigate the risks of water damage and prevent waste simultaneously. Take action today!