Water Distribution Flashcards
First water distribution network
a. Roman aqueduct system – 2000 years old and still standing. It’s what allowed for ~1mil people cities…
First US water system was created in ____ in the city of ____
1801
Philidephia
When did Tucson Water Company first start delivering water?
1881
Describe early water mains.
d. Early 1800 – wooden water mains. “Plugging” a line came from the fact that you literally bored a hole in the wooden pipes and then had to replug it.
What are the two sources of water TFD uses?
Static and pressurized
Static water
i. Any source of water that needs to be mechanically moved into a fire apparatus
1. Lakes/ponds/rivers
2. Portable tanks
3. Cisterns
4. Swimming pools
5. Test pits
What is drafting?
ii. Drafting is the process of raising water from a static source to the pump.
1. TFD only drafts at the test pit during pump tests and Water Tender Shuttle Operations
3 things that affect drafting
a. Lift – the difference between the level of the water and the center of the pump.
b. Vacuum – an enclosed space from which matter, especially air, has been partially removed.
c. Atmospheric pressure – the weight of a column of air at a given location on the surface of the earth
i. On average, at sea level, the atmospheric pressure is 14.7 psi
ii. Tucson is normally 13.9 psi
What is Tucson’s atmospheric pressure?
13.9psi
How does drafting work?
- By decreasing the pressure (mmHg) in the pump and hose below atmospheric pressure, the water is forced into the hose. Atmospheric pressure is still pushing on the static water source. The pressure/force on the water source will push the water up the hose
Pressurized water
Any source that will flow freely into a fire apparatus.
Booster tanks
Water Tenders
Hydrants
Booster tank details
a. Must be able to deliver 250GPM to the pump gravity fed if the tank is less than 750 gallons
b. Must be able to deliver 500GPM to the pump (gravity fed) if the tank is 750 or more.
Water tender details
a. Bring water to places where there are few or no hydrants
b. WT20 (8779) carries 2500 gallons of water (10 tons)
(Yes, I know WT20 has been moved around, but we haven’t gotten any official written documentation of what station its at, so I’m going off of the PP we got.)
Hydrant details
a. Fire hydrants are part of a water distribution system that is designed to meet the needs of the community it serves.
b. Hydrants are placed for the specific purpose of providing an adequate and reliable water supply for fighting fires
Components of a distribution system
Supply source Treatment plants Reservoirs Mains Hydrants