Standpipe

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A freestanding fire standpipe at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

A standpipe is a type of rigid water piping which is built into in multi-story buildings in a vertical position, to which firehoses can be connected, allowing manual application of water to the fire.

1 Types
- 1.1 Dry standpipe
- 1.2 Wet standpipe
2 Advantages
3 Use in drought conditions
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Types

There are two types of standpipes, in the North American sense of this word: "wet" standpipes and "dry" standpipes. These are fire-fighting implements.

[edit] Dry standpipe

External access point for fire sprinkler and dry standpipe at a building in San Francisco

A "dry" standpipe is a pipe extending into a building that can be used by the fire department to supply fire fighting water to the interior of the structure. The pipe is fixed and permanently in place with an intake usually located near a road or driveway so that a fire engine can supply water to the system [1]. Fire fighters bring hose in with them and attach it to standpipe outlets located along the pipe throughout the structure. Dry standpipes are not normally filled with water, the pipes are thus dry and are so named. When a fire occurs the pipes are "charged", meaning water is introduced into them.

[edit] Wet standpipe

A "wet" standpipe, on the other hand, is filled with water and is pressurized at all times. In contrast to dry standpipes, which may be used only by firefighters, wet standpipes may be used by building occupants. Wet standpipes generally already come with hoses so that building occupants may fight fires quickly.

[edit] Advantages

Standpipes resolve a number of difficulties in getting water to the upper levels of a structure, even when it is theoretically possible to use hoseline to accomplish this.

First and most importantly, laying a firehose up a stairwell takes time, and this time is saved by having a fixed structure already in place.

Standpipes go in a direct up and down direction rather than looping around the stairwell, greatly reducing the length and thus the loss of water pressure due to friction loss. Additionally, standpipes are rigid and do not kink, a dangerous problem which can occur when a firehose is improperly laid on a stairwell.

[edit] Use in drought conditions

In the UK, an "Emergency Drought Order" permits a water company to shut off the primary water supply to homes, and to supply water instead from tanks or standpipes in the streets. This was done in some areas during the 1976 United Kingdom heat wave. Note that this is an entirely different type of standpipe than are the ones used for fire-fighting.