Separation of drinking and fire fighting water

Drinking water is one of our most important and valuable foodstuffs and is strictly monitored in Germany. Regulations can be found in the Drinking Water Ordinance, which contains comprehensive protection regulations, among other things. T

hese are intended to prevent various types of contamination. Water supply companies (WVU) in Germany are obliged to supply drinking water of the specified quality to the end of the house connection pipe (up to the water meter). Principles for this can also be found in the “Ordinance on General Conditions for the Supply of Water,” or AVBWasserV for short. The operator of a building is responsible for ensuring that the quality of the water after the water meter is flawless.

Why is drinking water separation necessary?

However, drinking water is also one of our most efficient and important extinguishing agents. Fire departments also have specific requirements in terms of quantity, availability, pressure, etc. These are not always consistent with the basic requirements for drinking water quality.

It is now necessary to take the requirements of both sides into account. If pipes are too large, for example, the water they contain stagnates and biological contamination, such as the formation of Legionella bacteria, can occur, posing a latent health risk to users.

Proper planning is essential!
The design of a water supply system is primarily based on the required drinking water demand. However, firefighting equipment, such as wall hydrants and above-ground or underground hydrants, usually require significantly larger amounts of water.

The requirements can be found in the fire protection concept or the building permit.

The preferred solution for the separation of drinking water and extinguishing water is the use of a suitable extinguishing water transfer point.

Regulations on this can be found in DIN 14462. In addition, local requirements may have to be taken into account.

Such a fire-fighting water transfer point consists, for example, of a tank supplemented by a pressure boosting system. Alternatively, a so-called filling and emptying station is possible. Nowadays, this is mainly used in areas where there is a risk of frost.

If you have wall hydrants, above-ground hydrants or underground hydrants and the corresponding facilities are missing in the house connection room, you should act quickly.

Request a non-binding consultation for a legally compliant drinking water separation now.

Often one hears the statement: "grandfathering applies there". However, this is not the case here. A system that poses a latent health hazard must be assessed regardless of its age.

The system must be designed to be safe during operation. Although there is no "obligation" to use an extinguishing water transfer point in accordance with DIN 14462, alternative measures would then have to be taken that would also reliably achieve the required protection goal. In practice, this is very difficult to implement and usually involves high follow-up costs.

Do you still have questions about drinking water separation? Contact us now.

Our experienced experts know all the requirements of drinking water separation and always keep their knowledge up to date with the latest technology. At the same time, our experts are also involved in the leading associations up to the standardisation work in Germany.

We will be happy to work with you to develop an economically and technically individual as well as legally compliant concept for the reliable separation of drinking water and extinguishing water in your building.

We plan, install and maintain, among other things, extinguishing water transfer points, filling & emptying stations and drinking water separation stations.

Contact us, we are your expert for drinking water separation and are there for you throughout Germany.