Archived report · 2 min read · Set in Tavernier ·
Sprinkler Test at Tavernier Hall
A fire-safety test of the sprinkler system in Tavernier Hall releases water that smells of the harbour at low tide, and the heads keep spraying in the same arc after the valve is closed.
- filed: Filed with the annual certificate
- reference: FS/TAV/88
Subject: annual sprinkler test, main assembly hall, Tavernier Hall, Ostmark.
1. The system was installed in 1976 and comprises forty-two heads on a single riser, supplied from the town main through a gate valve in the boiler room. It was last certified in March.
2. The test procedure requires the valve to be opened for thirty seconds, the flow observed at each head, and the valve closed. The test was carried out by the building manager, Mr. J. Fothergill, with an independent witness, a fire officer from the county brigade.
3. On opening the valve the pressure gauge read the normal operating range. The heads released water within four seconds. The water had a distinct smell of brine and kelp, similar to the foreshore at low tide. The fire officer recorded the odour and asked for a sample. The sample was taken and labelled. It has since been mislaid.
4. The heads sprayed in the pattern expected of the design, a full arc over the floor of the hall. Water collected in the drainage channels and did not reach the storm outlet.
5. At thirty seconds the valve was closed. The heads did not stop. Each continued to discharge a fine spray at the same arc, without rising pressure, for a further four minutes and forty seconds.
6. The boiler-room valve was checked and found to be fully shut and locked. The riser was drained by opening the test cock. No water came out. The heads continued to spray.
7. Observation not explained by the survey: during the four minutes, a wet line appeared on the floor of the hall, running from the stage toward the fire exit at a steady walking pace. The fire officer followed it to the exit door. The door was closed, and the line ended at the threshold.
8. The system was isolated and the riser recharged. It has since been tested three times without fault.