Testing hydrants

Step-by-step Guide

InfoWorks WS Pro allows a selection of hydrants to be tested against preset criteria. A Fire flow group and a version-controlled Fire flow object are both required to store the hydrant parameters and testing constraints. This is a way of testing hydrants to ensure they can maintain both flow and pressure during fire emergencies.

After performing a fire flow run:

1. From the Grid windows toolbar, select New nodes window.
2. In the Grid window, click the Hydrant tab.

3. Select all the hydrants and create a selection list group:
   1. Click the first row.
   2. Scroll to the bottom of the table.
   3. Press and hold SHIFT
   4. Click the last row.
   5. In the Model Group window, right-click BridgeTown Fire flow and select New > Selection List Group.
   6. Create the hydrant selection list by right-clicking the Selection List Group and selecting New > Selection List.
   7. In the popup, name the new selection list "Hydrants".
4. In the Model Group window, right-click BridgeTown Fire flow, then click New > Fire Flow Group.
5. Name the fire flow group. In this example, the default name “Fire Flow Group” is selected.
6. Right-click the new Fire Flow Group and click New > Fire Flow.
7. Name the fire flow or accept the default name of “Fire Flow”.
8. Double-click the new Fire Flow object to open the Fire Flow Data dialog box.
9. Under Hydrant Testing Constraints:
   1. Set the Minimum Flow to 15.
   2. Set the Maximum Flow to 20.
   3. Adjust the Minimum Residual Pressure to 15.
   4. Set the Zone Minimum Residual Pressure to 10.
   5. Set the Network Minimum Residual Pressure to 10.
   6. Enable Keep Local Demand.

Based on the values you entered, you will test one hydrant to see if it can provide between 5 and 20 liters per second in the event of a fire at a nearby building.  You will also test if the hydrant itself can maintain a minimum residual pressure of 15 meters, and if the immediate demand zone around the hydrant and entire network can maintain at least 10 meters of pressure.

10. In the Hydrant Parameters group, set the Diameter to 10.
11. Set the Local Loss Coefficient to 1.
12. In the Hydrant Valve Parameters group, set the Valve Diameter to 50.
13. Set the Valve Curve to PLUG.
14. Set the Loss Coeff. to 1.5.

15. Close the dialog box.
16. In the notification to save the changes, click Yes.
17. Create a new run by right-clicking Run Group and selecting New > Run.
18. In the Schedule Hydraulic Run dialog box, in the Title field, enter “Hydrant testing”.
19. Check the box next to Experimental.
20. From the Model Group, drag and drop Network, Control, and Demand diagram into their respective panels in the dialog box.
21. In the Run Type group box, expand the drop-down and select Fire flow.
22. In the Fire Flow Options dialog box, enable Hydrant Testing, which opens additional options.
23. From the Model Group, drag and drop the Fire Flow object into the Fire Flow panel.
24. Drag and drop the Hydrants selection list into the Selection List panel.
25. Set the Hydrant Testing Time to May 2nd, 2022, at 10:00.
26. In the Options: group box, enable Calculate Pressure at Min and Max Fire Flow.
27. Enable Calculate Open Hydrant Flow.
28. Enable Calculate Hydrant Curve.

29. Click OK.
30. In the Schedule Hydraulic Run dialog box, click Save.
31. Click Run.
32. In the Model Group, right-click the run results and select Open as....
33. In the Select Results dialog box, click Hydrant Testing Report.
34. Click OK.

A grid opens, showing how each hydrant performed in the simulation.

In the Hydrant Testing Result column, some of the hydrants have passed the set criteria and some have not. This indicates that if the set criteria were used to judge the compliance of the network to provide the required fire flow under the specified conditions, the hydrants that have failed would not be deemed complaint.