Typically I have seen the water line up to and the water meter being owned by the water dept. The backflow is the owners, but I don't believe the question was dealing with valves on the backflow so that's a moot point. We always have them supervised.
Around here the water meter pits are installed on right-of-ways, not private property. So the moral of this story is it can vary from place to place. Craig L. Prahl, CET Fire Protection Specialist Mechanical Department CH2MHILL Lockwood Greene 1500 International Drive PO Box 491, Spartanburg, SC 29304-0491 Direct - 864.599.4102 Fax - 864.599.8439 [email protected] http://www.ch2m.com -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Thom McMahon Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 11:34 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Are valves in pits sealed? Craig: Actually from a Fire protection main standpoint, most (Not all, in particular some PA areas) require the "Owner" to supply maintain and install the backflow prevention and metering DCDC or RPZDC. The "Owner" is responsible for the testing and is the maintainer of the backflow devices. The backflow is installed to protect the municipal water system from the "Owners" water system and uses. In some cases the water dept. will specify the by-pass meter type and size and may also have specific requirements for the backflow prevention, but it is the "Owner that must supply and maintain these devices. Water meter pits are usually installed on "Private" property (the property of the "Owner") not in public rights of way. Does the water dept or supplier have right of access, yes as does most any Gov. entity, or utility, supplying a service. They have the right to protect their equipment and distribution from any acts you may perform which endanger that system. Since the water co's don't own maintain or install the equipment in the pit or the pit itself, they have very limited input on tampering of valves in the pit, if any. As far as the control valves on the municipal main not being supervised, even NFPA 24 does not require all valves to be POST Indicator, or supervised, even for private fire service mains. They consider the fact that a special Key is needed to operate the valves, and that the valve box is not a item of common knowledge, or access, as sufficient. Thom McMahon, SET Firetech, Inc. 2560 Copper Ridge Dr P.O. Box 882136 Steamboat Springs, CO 80488 Tel: 970-879-7952 Fax: 970-879-7926 -----Original Message----- Subject: RE: Are valves in pits sealed? Water meters and their associated valves are typically the property of the water department and considered as not being subject to the same NFPA requirements as sprinkler system valves. It's a fine line because if you had a municipal water source supplying a sprinkler system, the control valves along the water main are not supervised, where does it change identity from a municipal water main to a fire main? Craig L. Prahl, CET _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
