George (and Ron), Thank you for the info. I looked up "Scandaliato" and while I see plenty of links, the only one that was actually info I could read (after searching Google), was about seismic in regards to fire protection.
The water company is supplying the equipment and personnel to actually conduct the flow test. I have no clue what they use nor if the equipment is calibrated. I am there to record and I guess, calculate the information to use in my design. I have done quite a bit of searching on the Net since I posted my question and for starters came up with this site http://www.firehydrant.org/info/ftest1.html. Guess I should have started there at the beginning. I appreciate your candor regarding the advice I had been giving about flowing both directions. When flow tests are required, I am normally handed the piece of paper and have no sense of what is done to come to those number. I realize that everything is subjective to time of day, season, etc, etc and that 4 decimal places is a little excessive! <s> As a owner of a converible, I curse every time someone in front of me on the highway uses their windshield wipers to "clean" their windshield at 75mph when I have the top down. Would hate to go by while a flow test was happening! <s> Richard On 8/3/07, George Church <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > There's actually quite a bit to know, and I hope to remember them since I > plan to run one this afternoon, too- if they fix the main break. Since > it's > 2 miles south of my house, what a great thing to do on a Fri in August. > > If the flow is from one direction, you read static from the hydrant before > where your tap is, or will be, and flow a hydrant past it. If direction of > flow in a grid isn't obvious, you could reverse it, but if it is a big > main > and flows aren't taxing it, I wouldn't sweat it. > > Measure the ID of the hydrant butt(s) you're flowing, confirming 2.5" or > adjust in the formula. Check if it is a .7,.8, or .9 hydrant, so you can > enter the appropriate coefficient (and not have to drive back and explain > to > the police why you've got your finger in a hydrant butt on Friday night). > If it's a .9, and FM is your job's underwriter, you'll have to use a .8 > coefficient and degrade supply. Fortunately, if it's a .7 you get a bonus > from FM, it's still a .8 if you wish, but I'd still use the .7- just a jab > at standardization of variables. > > Make sure your gauges are new or calibrated, liquid-filled to minimize > bouncing. Might be too late to go buy a couple Hose Monsters, we swear by > them for all sorts of things- we know, for instance, what gpm we flushed > an > UG lead-in at. > > Get elevation difference between your static/residual hydrant and FF of > your > building. > > Ask the water co what their tank elevation was during the test, what > lowest > tank gradient is, and subtract the elevation pressure from both static and > residual points on your curve- that's the worst your supply should get > (except the zillion other things like a new bottling plant that can affect > it in the future). > > The pitot tube I assume you're using should be held half the diameter away > from the opening when taking readings, and you need to bleed the air out > of > the zone between the tip and the gauge- that's what that little bleeder > valve is for. > > Wear rubbers or boots. Let the water co guy open and close the hydrant. > Don't rip up crops. Don't attach a hose monster directly to a hydrant, it > needs some hose for accuracy and sometimes they start spinning on the > hydrant - leading to a large amount of water on your head -repeatedly. We > found this can cause severe abdominal distress to young design managers > witnessing this, plus its cold when you walk in a store to get coffee > cause > you're soaked on the way home. Watch where the puddles form so you don't > get > drenched by passing traffic. Be prepared to laugh if a convertible drives > thru it. Obviously, 30+ years of water test war stories could add a lot to > this, but I need to get some stuff dome before going to mine. > > Finally- enjoy being out of the office and playing with static and dynamic > energy. > > glc > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Richard > Lindner > Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 12:46 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Proper Flow Test Recording > > In order to get a flow test done for a project, the local water utility > will > perform the flow test but we need to be present to "record the numbers". > Being that I have never had to do this, I wanted to ask the group for > their > thoughts and recommendations of what is considered "standard operating > procedure". > > I have already printed out a copy of AFSA's "Flow Test Information Sheet". > I can pretty much figure out where to put most of the "info" but would > appreciate any pointers, methods, etc that others use. What should I be > looking for, what should I be asking for, etc. > > One item that I was told a while back when requesting a flow test was to > ask > for the system to be tested both directions, ie, read static on hydrant 1, > residual on hyd 2 and then switch everything around to then be able to > static hyd 2, residual hyd 1. Guess my question is.. is that necessary > or > just overkill and a waste of time? > > Appreciate any pointers. > > Richard > _______________________________________________ > Sprinklerforum mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum > > To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) > > _______________________________________________ > Sprinklerforum mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum > > To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) > _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
