30/04/2021
Bushfire Protection Solutions recently completed a Bushfire sprinkler system install at a property in Western Australia's Southwest. Like most people we talk to, the property owners were concerned about protecting their home and a lifetime of memories. With this also comes the potential inconvenience. When a family home is lost due to fire,
there is the chance that all you have walked away with is what you carry. The time it takes to rebuild after the devastation of losing a property can take years.
For this system, the property owners opted for both roof-mounted sprinklers and under eave sprinklers.
Roof-mounted sprinklers or Ridgeline system provides peripheral saturation to areas around the building while also keeping the roof wet. Drenching the lawn, bushes and garden areas can assist with extinguishing embers if they were to land in these areas, while a wet roof will potentially reduce the risk of a hot ember finding it's way into the roof cavity. Because of demanding conditions, the roof sprinkler system is constructed from copper pipe to withstand constant sunlight UV rays and the reflected heat from being installed on a tin roof.
Water is then pushed through impact sprinklers to achieve the desired spray coverage.
Under Eave or Water Curtain Systems provide a consistent wall of water around the perimeter of the building. This is done via a ring main with 35 micro butterfly sprinklers positioned around the building's perimeter, with additional sprinklers installed to ensure coverage of windows. All Micro Butterfly sprinklers have a spray distance of 3m at operating pressure, and all micro-sprinklers have been positioned to overlap. As the Under Eave System is mainly shaded from direct sunlight and with system overall system pricing in mind, the ring main has been constructed using PVC pipe.
The water supply for this Bushfire Sprinkler System was initially going to be from a stand-alone tank that would be constructed on the property. Other options were investigated due to limited areas on the property to build the tank and the additional cost to build a tank and tank pad. As advised by the owner, the main rainwater tank that supplies the house remains half full, even at the end of Summer. This would amount to approximately 50,000 litres remaining and un-used. The water supply for the bushfire sprinkler system has been drawn from the main water tank's primary outlet.
The minimum water usage for the recommended 2 hrs run time on this system is 27000 litres.
Water Pumping and Control unit has been supplied by Graham Lund at Small Farm Services in the Perth Hills. Graham has been designing and building these control units then integrating them into the 7hp or 10hp Pumping unit.
For this system, we have opted for a 7hp diesel pump with a twin impeller. This has been sheltered in its own tin shed with a steel base frame.
The pump can be started by the pump ignition switch or through the control unit via SMS. This gives the option to start and run the system from anywhere in the world. A solar panel has been added to the system to provide a constant charge to the pump's battery. A remotely mounted aerial has been added to the control unit to provide an improved signal to the control unit.
Located at the front of the property, we have installed an Information tube. This tube contains the pumping unit's location and a brief description of how the system operates and what to do if the system has failed to start remotely. Contact details for the property owner are also located in the Information Tube.
The Bushfire Sprinkler systems are designed to reduce the impact of the Bushfire Ember Attack by wetting areas around the property as quickly and efficiently as possible. A Bushfire Sprinkler System should be used as an additional resource in your Bushfire plan, not your only resource. Well maintained vegetation and good separation distance between structures and vegetation can also be an advantage.
Bushfire Protection Solutions recommends that a robust and practised Bushfire Plan is developed and practised for your property.
