subject: Fire Sprinklers and Low Pressure Water Mist fire protection in schools [print this page] Over 5 schools a day are being damaged by fire and one school a week is lost to fire. The annual insurance payout is 100 million. Active fire suppression can prevent most of this destruction and make our schools safer.
The Government announced in March 2007 that all new schools and the majority of those undergoing major refurbishment are expected to have fire suppression systems installed.
School fires put lives at risk and disrupt the education of tens of thousands or pupils across the UK each year. They are also expensive; school fires in 2006 cost 74 million and this figure is rising every year.
Installing a fire suppression system ensures that the fire is controlled and that damage is kept to a minimum whilst saving lives, money and disruption to the education of children.
From an analysis of twenty six schools the cost of installing sprinkler systems ranges from 1.4% to 4.48% of the total construction costs for primary schools, and from 1.6% to 2.96% in secondary schools, with averages of 2.7% and 2.31% respectively. For a typical new build primary school, with construction costs of 3.5m, this gives a range of 47,900 and 157,000, and an average of 95,000. The cost of a retro fit installation in a refurbished school is significantly more expensive than a new build.
Leaving aside the human casualties avoided, the principal benefit from sprinkler systems is reduced insurance cost. Zurich Municipal Insurance suggested sprinkler installation in schools could reduce their insurance premiums by around 75% per year, and lower the excess close to zero.
Net of running costs, the annual benefit from sprinklers in the 26 schools analysed was found to lie between 6,000 and 10,000 per year.
EN 12845 classifies schools as Ordinary Hazard 1 (OH I) which requires water flow rates of up to 540 litres per minute at a pressure of 1.7 BAR. A flow rate that most water companies are reluctant to supply and WILL NOT guarantee. To ensure a reliable supply, the alternative is large water storage tanks of up to 55,000 litres in capacity and a diesel pump house. A substantial sized area is required for the tank site and comes at a considerable cost when taking into account the ground works and preparation of a suitably engineered base.
If the provision of a large water supply or the space for the tank with associated costs are an issue then aMinimax EconAqua Low Pressure Water Mist System is the solution. Unlike other low pressure water mist systems EconAqua is the only complete system that has been stringently tested and certificated to LH, OHI and OHII for land based applications by VdS (The German national test laboratories). Other low pressure water mist systems have at best, tested and certified the head component only to I.M.O standards (International Maritime Organisation) and not the system as a whole.
Fire Sprinklers and Low Pressure Water Mist fire protection in schools
