Water Storage Tanks
Standard of construction for sprinkler tanks
It is essential that the water storage tank is of robust construction and is designed and constructed to need little maintenance or servicing. Sprinkler water storage tanks are built to a standard that will provide a ten year service life. This is the requirement for LPCB listing for tanks for systems which require a ‘Superior’ water supply, without there being any need for drainage and cleaning.
Where sprinkler systems are designed to the LPC Rules for Automatic Sprinkler Installations incorporating BE EN 12845:2009 the most commonly used water storage tanks have LPCB approval. LPCB listed tanks must comply with the rigorous manufacturing and test standard LPS 1276.
Type ‘A’ tanks with a fifteen year maintenance-free period can still be provided for contracts designed to the now obsolete BS 5306 Part 2:1990.
A list of LPCB-approved tanks can be found in the LPCB ‘Red Book’ and on their website. These tanks come in sizes from 5m³ up to 1300m,³ depending on the hazard category of the sprinkler system. If a larger capacity is required a combination of approved tanks can be used.
The relevant sections of the LPC Rules for Automatic Sprinkler Installations incorporating BS EN 12845: 2009 that apply to water storage tanks for sprinklers are:
- TB 203 Care and maintenance of automatic sprinkler systems
- TB 204 Sprinkler system grading
- TB 209 ESFR sprinkler protection
- TB 218 Water supply diagrams
- TB 221 Sprinkler in schools
- TB 224 Water storage tanks (cisterns)
- TB 229 Variations to BS EN 12845 rules
- TB 233 Water supplies for life safety systems
Sprinkler tanks are also listed by the US insurers certification body UL and by the industrial insurer FM Global for use on specified sites. For contracts designed to NFPA 13 (US National Fire Protection Association Codes) either an FM or LPCB.