News

Pumping Station Commissioned

Firefighting with Salt water now an option downtown

On September 9, 1995 the first of three (3) new pumping stations was commissioned in the City of Vancouver. To date, the crews at #8 firehall (the closest hall to the pumping station on Pacific at Homer) have been trained to use the new water supply system. In the near future training on the use of this system will be delivered to other department staff.

The final system configuration will include a dedicated fire main and hydrant system connecting the pumping stations. Three (3) hose tenders, each carrying 5000 feet of 5" hose and surface hydrants, will be used to deploy the surface water supply equipment. This system will be used to augment the fresh water supply system for fighting a large fire in the downtown peninsula or it is capable of pumping saltwater for firefighting in the event of a failure of the domestic water supply resulting from an earthquake or some other cause.

The pumping station itself is designed to withstand an earthquake up to 8.5 on the Richter scale. The pumps are two (2) vertical turbine pumps rated at 5000 gpm powered by two (2) 1700 horsepower V12 Caterpillar diesel engines. The False Creek station has two 10,000 gallon diesel fuel tanks. With full tanks, stations will be able to operate up to five days without refuelling. Together the station pumps are rated to deliver 10,000 gpm of water for firefighting at 300 psi. Recent tests indicate that the actual volume of water delivered by each pump station may be as high as 18,000 gpm under optimal conditions. All station water intake and discharge lines are manufactured from ductile steel pipe having flexible ball joint couplings with a 24 inch range of movement in any direction.

Each station is equipped with a back up generator, emergency food and water supplies for operators and other equipment allowing them to operate completely self contained for many days, if required. The False Creek station will be staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by water works personnel who are relocating the City water control centre to the False Creek site. When required to pump water for firefighting, the Dedicated Fire Protection Officer will respond to the station and communicate with fire ground Officers via department radios; assuring the Fire Department's water supply needs are met.

When operated, pumps will initially draw water from a containment well under the station that holds 150,000 gallons of fresh water that is supplied by an 18 inch City main. The well is also connected to a 42 inch salt water supply line from False Creek. Pumping operations will begin with fresh water. If the fresh water supply is interrupted or supply cannot keep up to demand, the water level in the well will drop. When it has dropped sufficiently, the computer control system will alert the operator and request confirmation to switch to pumping salt water. If a response is not received, the pumps will shut down before salt water enters the system; providing protection against accidentally pumping salt water.

The next pumping station to be built will be located at Hastings and Broughton. When completed, a dedicated 27 inch steel main and hydrant system, designed to withstand the same magnitude of earthquake as the pump stations, will be constructed to connect the two stations together. The next two stations will be remotely operated from the False Creek site.

City Engineering, Dedicated Fire Pumping System Construction Reports