Fire safety measures need to be taken for any type of building to prevent fire from spreading. This is a good way to prevent huge loss due to fire accidents. In places with inflammable materials it is mandatory to have fire safety equipment. Industrial areas are prone to fire accidents; losses can be reduced with proper fire safety measures and equipment. Depending on their feasibility, sprinkler systems need to be installed wherever required. They are not restricted to only industrial areas. Even residential and commercial areas can be installed with sprinkler systems. These will not be of much help if not maintained and repaired. Every sprinkler system will have to be maintained regularly to ensure the system will work properly when a fire breaks out.
The maintenance work for any sprinkler system will depend on the type of sprinkler used. The common types of residential sprinkler system are stand-alone and multi-use sprinkler system. In stand-along system the sprinkler is connected to a separate water facility. In case a well is used as a water source, it is better to have a separate tank water storage tank. In this way the required amount of water is available during emergency and not exhaust the well completely. This system need to be check regularly to ensure there is no stagnation of water, replace or repair corroded piping when required, and remove the sediments during maintenance to have sediment free piping for easy water flow. The multi-use sprinkler system is connected to the plumbing system. Fresh water runs through the sprinkler system regularly and adequate water is available during emergencies. Due to regular flow of water in the pipes, these pipes are prone to corrosion. A regular maintenance will keep check on this and repairing it will be easier.
For industrial and commercial properties the sprinkler systems used are: wet sprinkler system, dry sprinkler system andpreaction sprinkler system. A wet sprinkler system will have water running through the system all the time. Whereas the dry and preaction systems are designed in such a way that only when there is requirement of water for the sprinkler the water is allowed through the pipes. It is very important to keep these two systems checked regularly to ensure the water is dislodged into the system during emergencies.
The different types of sprinklers are mostly heat sensitive and activate when the surrounding area around the sprinkler reaches certain temperature. Most common manufacturing feature used for Sprinklers are bulb filled with special liquid, and soldered link to head. The liquid used for activating the sprinkler must be able to expand when the right temperature in the room is reached in order to break itself free and allow the sprinkler head to move for dislodging water. In a similar way the soldered link of the sprinkler head must also melt at the right temperature to allow water to be discharged. The liquid, soldering metal used and sprinkler action are very important to be taken into consideration while repairing. The right amount of liquid and soldering metal must be put on the sprinkler head to ensure the head becomes free at the right temperature and water is discharged in minimum time.
Any fire sprinkler repair and maintenance must be done by a professional. They will be able to repair a faulty sprinkler in the area properly. Regular maintenance and checks in form of tests must be done for the sprinkler to work in the required manner during fire emergencies. With regular inspection by the staff or maintenance company will help in reducing failure rate of sprinklers.