Class 2 wet-pipe fire sprinkler system s. Th is in vestigation evalu ated th e water qu ality in Class 1 an d Class 2 wet-pipe fire sprin kler system s to determ in e wh eth er firesprin kler system s pose a pu blic h ealth h azard an d evalu ated th e effectiven ess of retrofittin g th ese system s with backflow preven tion assem blies based on cost-ben efit an d risk con sideration s.
Previous studies have answered some questionsHave fire sprinklers caused cross-connections? Alth ou gh th ere are n u m erou s, well-docu m en ted in stan ces in wh ich cross-con n ection s h ave con tam in ated drin kin g water an d produ ced illn ess, fire sprin kler system s h ave n ot been clearly im plicated. 1 Docum en ted cross-con n ection effects of fire services date back to 1903, wh en backflow occu rred in Lowell, Mass., du rin g a firefigh tin g operation ; th e crosscon n ection cau sed an ou tbreak of disease an d death s resu lted. 2 Preven tive m easu res developed to safegu ard again st fire crosscon n ection s in clu de th e u se of addition al ch eck valves on fire sprin kler lin es to preven t th e in trodu ction of con tam in an ts in to th e drin kin g water su pply. Of 398 backflow in ciden ts reported sin ce 1900, 4.3 percen t (17) are assu m ed to h ave in volved backflow of wetpipe fire sprin kler system s in to potable water lin es. 3,4 Is water in fire sprinkler systems potable? Man y stu dies of th e qu ality of fire sprin kler water h ave been perform ed by variou s m u n icipal water pu rveyors, bu t few are form ally pu blish ed or docu m en ted. As an example, in 1975 th e City of Portlan d (Ore.) Bu reau of Water Works an alyzed th e water in eigh t sprin kler system s th at h ad been in stalled between 1926 an d 1964. 5 Sam ples were collected from th e in spector's test con n ection . All samples exceeded drin kin g water stan dards for lead (Pb), iron (Fe), an d tu rbidity. Som e of th e sam ples exceeded
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