Gravity fed water system help

I fell under code for sprinklers. I passed the flow and presser test for my shop; they did a 2 sprinkler test. My house falls under a different code and I think they are going to do a 4 sprinkler test that I will need a booster pump to pass.

My plan for passing the house sprinkler test. T after house presser tank, 1hp 220v booster pump, check valve, sprinkle presser tank, pump presser switch, and flow switch for alarm system.

I'm building off grid and to me needing to using a pump for house hold water presser is a waist of power and poor planning on my part. I don't mind flooding my house if there is a fire we have insurance to cover that, but don't want needless flooding.

Well, you have a lot of complex issues. Off grid makes a large difference. Its extraordinarily rare for more than one sprinkler head to open in a house fire, so the 4 is a code bit of stupidity to make off grid, on well housing unaffordable. As if we do not have enough problems with money for houses already!

I would do the booster and use the 3 way valve, and after the code goobs leave, twist it over to gravity again. Then you have the issue of pressure tank precharge for whatever system you are using. You might want a plain no bladder tank for your project that is not pressure sensitive.

If money is no object for you, then a duplex system with 2 tanks would work.

Or keep all the piping BIG to the house and to the sprinklers, and you might pass with a inspector that has half a brain. Good luck.

I think there are a lot of code stupidity but it keeps builders being to cheap. I don't think I will get an inspector with half a brain, every inspection so far I have had at least 2 inspectors show up. I have also had a few “check ups” between inspections.

You would not have a reference to the comment on “Its extraordinarily rare for more than one sprinkler head to open in a house fire”. It might be worth me fighting the code on it. I will try to find something when I get back in for the day.

Even if I lived in the city with a 3l4” water meter and pipe running from the road I think they would need a storage tank and pump to pass the flow rate with 4 sprinkler heads open.

Problem is, its new code and the inspectors are all out of work. They are trying to save their cushy jobs.

Search the net for more info, up to this year they have used [I believe] NFPA code 13r re residential sprinklers. I did a lot of research for a house I was building before they were required, but finally gave up even though the code guys here are pretty easy.

I have always put heads in utility rooms, and I think I will do the kitchen and laundry on this place just to see what gives. "partial" sprinklers used to be pretty much outside scrutiny.

If your layout does not include monster rooms with 4 heads in one area, you could appeal and get a pass. Fires only start in more than one room when your wife finds you in bed with her best friend.

http://firesmarts.com.s3.amazonaws.com/webinar/Fire_Smarts_Webinar_Sprinklers-Pipe.pdf

I see some tyco heads rated for 16x16 at 13gpm and 7 psi.

http://www.watersystemscouncil.org/VAiWebDocs/WSCDocs/3109327Insert_23.PDF

ballvalve said:

Fires only start in more than one room when your wife finds you in bed with her best friend.

Click to expand...

In which case it's to cover up a double homicide.

How is the cistern up the hill being filled? Instead of a booster pump at the house, would a submersible in the cistern be an option?

Our main floor is mostly open, kitchen, living, and dinning is 20' by 25'. 3 bed rooms and study upstairs and full basement.

The cistern is being filled by solar pump (no batteries) in a spring on the other side of the hill.
At the cistern I have 2 deep cell batteries with a dc ozone pump to run a filter. More or less home made dc setup of www.tripleo.com/

When they do the sprinkler they will put hoses on a few of the sprinklers, time how long it takes to fill there buckets, and see how much the water presser drops on the main sprinkler main / manifold.

Wife and kids have something set up for us to do tonight but when I get back I’m going to to some internet searching and see what I can come up with.

We have a 400 acre farm on the side of a hill / mountain and the valley. At the shop we have our PV panels, inverters, back up dc genset, and battery bank. We more or less have 50 amps split phase service and can use around 11 KWH of power a day witch should keep our batteries at a safe level and gets us through 2 rainy days in a row without running our genset. The shop is about 30' form the house and we trenched in PVC to run power.

Putting in a booster pump to run for normal water presser would use about the same amount of power as my energy star chest freezer. My wife and twins are not good at water conservation but they are good at power conservation. If I need a booster pump for fire protection then the power draw should be very occasional and worth the usage.

This coming Friday I'm going to get my ruff inspections on plumbing, electrical, and sprinkler systems. I would love to fight the way they do sprinkler inspection but I don't have the time if I'm going to keep on my schedule. I'm going to stick to the plan of using a booster pump and a second presser tank in the house to pass the sprinkle test.