Antifreeze Fire Sprinkler Systems

Los Angeles Antifreeze Fire Sprinkler Systems

Antifreeze fire sprinkler systems are designed for use in cold climates, just like the dry pipe fire sprinkler system it will not freeze on you when temperatures fall below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The antifreeze fire sprinkler system is a network of pipes, alarms, control valves, and automatic fire sprinkler heads all able to operate in colder temperatures.

There is a new safety alert issued by NFPA regarding antifreeze fire sprinkler systems:

Background

Following reports of a fire incident involving a sprinkler system that contained a high concentration antifreeze solution, research and standards development activities were begun to address concerns raised by the combustibility of antifreeze solutions in residential sprinkler systems. As information became available, NFPA published two successive Safety Alerts providing guidance from NFPA in its role as a safety advocate and announcing Tentative Interim Amendments (TIAs) to NFPA sprinkler standards that were issued by the NFPA Standards Council. The TIAs and the additional NFPA guidance offered in those Safety Alerts were interim actions while the responsible standards development Technical Committees reviewed the results of the research and reached consensus on further amendments to the NFPA sprinkler standards.

The sprinkler committees have now completed the review and consideration of the issues related to the use of antifreeze in sprinkler systems and, based on the available information, have reached consensus on four TIAs that were issued by the NFPA Standards Council (PDF, 81 KB) on March 1, 2011. The four TIAs achieve a more comprehensive approach to the treatment of antifreeze in NFPA sprinkler standards, and provide new requirements for the use of antifreeze in both new and existing residential occupancies and in non-residential occupancies as well.

NFPA 13D has created a standard for the installation of fire sprinkler systems, detailing information for the combined dry pipe and pre action system. “1.1* Scope. 1.1.1 This standard shall cover the design, installation, and maintenance of automatic sprinkler systems for protection against the fire hazards in one- and two-family dwellings and manufactured homes. 1.1.2 This standard assumes that the sprinkler system is designed to protect against a fire originating from a single ignition location.”