Situation

Lyreco's warehousing facility in Telford needed their existing sprinkler system extending. Underneath three of the mezzanines in the warehouse were not protected by the original sprinkler system and so the addition of new ranges and sprinkler heads were needed.

Solution

Up until recently the addition of new sprinkler heads would mean a complete drain down of the system. The LIVETAP® No Drain-T an innovation designed and developed by The Project Fire Group is a connection to extend an existing system enabling the addition of seven sprinkler heads per connection which can be applied while the system is still ‘live’. A new innovative and revolutionary way of working.

Firstly the position of the No Drain-T is determined and fixed to the existing 150mm sprinkler main. New pipe work was then fed from the 50mm branch outlet down and underneath the mezzanine to where new ranges and sprinkler heads were installed. The new pipe work was then tested. To do this the LIVETAP® drill is connected to the 50mm valve outlet. The LIVETAP® drill valve adaptor has an outlet connection which is employed to apply a standard pressure test on the new pipe work. If the new works produced a leak then there is no need to drain down the whole system just the newly installed pipe work can be drained and amended. After a successful test we commenced with drilling into the ‘live’ sprinkler trunk main using the LIVETAP® Drilling System. The drill is fed through the No Drain-T by means of a simple hand operated ratchet drive that takes a matter of minutes. The drill is then withdrawn bringing the newly installed pipe work and sprinkler heads on-line.

Result

The main benefits of using the No Drain-T at the Lyreco warehousing facility was we did not need to carryout a full drain down of the original sprinkler system to make the additions, which saves time and money. There was no disturbance to Lyreco’s work during the process, as the whole warehouse facility remained fully operational while we made the additions to their sprinkler system. Also there was no loss of sprinkler protection during the ‘live’ tapping of the connection so local fire authorities did not need to be notified. The work was completed under a lower risk assessment, as the No Drain-T connection is safer to use than a standard tee connection in an environment where there are live electrics. All work was carried out during normal working hours substantially saving on costs.

Benefits of Livetap®

> No Drain Down
> No Loss of Protection
> No Inline Valve
> 24 / 7 Sprinkler Protection
> Substantial Cost Savings
> Simple Minor Works Connections
> Ability to Work in Normal Hours
> No Release of Water
> No Pumps Running
> User Friendly Equipment
> No Activating of Other Alarms
> Saves Water

"The Livetap system is a new innovative way of working. It saves time and money when making additions or modifications to an existing sprinkler system."

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