Fire flow capacity

Fire flow determines the network capacity for firefighting operations. In such situations, regulators typically establish guidelines to guarantee enough water pressure for customers while ensuring ample supply for firefighters’ needs.

Without an adequate water supply, they may struggle to control a fire or customers end up without water, resulting in extensive damages.

With Qatium, you can check the maximum amount of water firefighters can extract from the hydrants in your network without reducing pressures on the customers below the regulation threshold.

1. Select the time at which you’d like to test your fire flow capacity. For example, select 00:00 to test for the whole day.
2. Click on a hydrant (use the search  to locate it faster)
3. Go to the Pressure tab in the Demand Spike panel  and type the minimum pressure value customers can reach according to regulations (or use the slider).
4. Hover over or click on the DMA to confirm no customers are below the minimum pressure.
5. Open the Pressure panel  and check the lowest customer pressure on the network.
6. Use the fast-forward button to move through the timeline and see the impact throughout the day.

You can switch from My scenario to My network in the Network versions panel  to assess differences.