How slow is slow? Managing fire hydrant operation for protecting water infrastructure

Abstract

There have been several water main breaks attributed to fire hydrant operations despite the persistent guidance from stakeholders to operate the hydrants "slowly." Traditional water hammer simulations for determining the safe operational times for every hydrant can be tedious and impractical for most water utilities. While the rapid operation of certain hydrants can generate excessive pressures, most hydrants are benign and do not generate pressures capable of bursting water mains. Using certain simplified water hammer parameters, the authors propose automated methods that can identify benign hydrants at least 100 times faster than the traditional methods where the operation of each hydrant is simulated by manually modifying the baseline models. Detailed analysis with more accurate data can then be performed to determine the precise operational times for the critical hydrants and develop the necessary measures to safeguard their operation.

Application of hydrant piping system design in boiler plants for fire safety systems in paper producing companies

“…The function of the jockey pump is to maintain the water pressure in the fire hydrant system installation and the sprinkler system remains stable, so that if there is a slight leak in the pump, valve and other equipment in the installation, the jockey pump will return to the pressure that has been set or determined (Putri, 2017). With the jockey pump in the fire hydrant system to avoid installation components from being damaged quickly, usually which can damage damaged components due to high water pressure, when the main pump flows high pressure water (Lingireddy et al, 2022). To adjust the pressure so that the main pump is not running all the time.…”