The Corporation of the Town of Tillsonburg
REPORT
DATE:
April 1, 2004
TO:
Steve Lund
FROM:
Dave Davis
SUBJECT:
DRAFTING TEST PIT
PURPOSE
To inform the Director of Operations as to the requirements and need for a Drafting Test Pit
HISTORY
A Drafting Test Pit was included in the proposed Fleet Building Expansion Plan and a request has been made by
the Director of Operations to explain the purpose, need and viability of a test pit.
DISCUSSION
PUMP TESTING of FIRE APPARATUS
The purpose of a pump test is to insure that the apparatus is able to withstand the rigors required in the emergency
service. The last thing that the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) wants is for the apparatus to fail when lives
depend on it. Not only can lives be lost if the apparatus fails, but it can also open the AHJ to legal ramifications if
the apparatus fails due to lack of maintenance and testing. The purpose of the “pump test” is to test the ability of
the components of the apparatus to cool the engine, carry the electrical load required for lighting and other
electrical loads, test the horsepower output of the engine, test the ability of the clutch, transmission and driveline
to transmit the torque to the pump, test the pump transmission, test the output of the pump and record the increase
in engine RPM to know how much the pump is worn. The “pump test” tests all of the components needed to
supply water to protect life and property. The “pump test” tests the components to what the apparatus was tested
to when the manufacturer built the apparatus. The “pump test” works the components harder than the department
would normally use the apparatus during an emergency situation and is designed to have marginal components
fail in a non-emergency situation where human lives are not at risk. The “pump test” standards were developed by
the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) as minimum standards for testing the apparatus and need to be
adhered to for ISO compliance ratings. If the apparatus passes the “pump test” the AHJ has reasonable assurance
that the apparatus will not fail when lives depend on it and has fulfilled any burden of due diligence.
OPERATIONS SERVICES – FLEET
20 Spruce Street, Tillsonburg, Ontario, N4G 4Y5, Telephone # (519) 842-9200, Fax # (519) 842-8775
Web: www.town.tillsonburg.on.ca
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The Corporation of the Town of Tillsonburg
CURRENT PRACTICES
The NFPA Standard 1911 outlines the Service Tests of Fire Pump Systems on Fire Apparatus. The mandatory
requirements of the standard state that “Service tests shall be conducted at least annually and whenever major
repairs or modifications to the pump or any component of the apparatus that is used in pump operations have been
made”.
At the present time we are not testing any of the fire apparatus that belongs to the Town of Tillsonburg and have
not tested the Town’s equipment at any time in the last 8 years that I have been employed here. For the past
several years, the Fire Chief and I have been looking for a local test site and we have examined using the boat
ramp at Lake Lisgar, the settling ponds at the Water Treatment Plant, the pond at Coronation Park and even some
of the Town’s wells. None of these sites could be used with the major reason being that we couldn’t get the heavy
fire apparatus safely within 10 feet of the water supply.
In 2003 we started contacting in outside fire department’s maintenance and one of the features we were selling
was the ability to perform annual pump testing. It was hoped that this revenue stream would provide the funds to
purchase the needed test equipment and supplies. As a temporary solution to the test pit problem, I was using a
portable tank for drafting but this has turned out to be totally inadequate. The portable tank leaks, we have no
means of filling the tank, the tank is too small and the tank has to be set up and torn down for every test. I have
since put a hold on doing any more pump testing until we can come up with the proper facilities.
PUMP TEST PIT DESIGN
A pump test pit is basically a buried concrete water tank with several baffles built in to eliminate any aeration and
turbulence in the water. The water is drawn out of the test pit by the fire apparatus and is run through the pump
and then sent out a series of fire hoses to test for pressure and volume and is dumped back into the pit. The water
capacity of the pit has to be greater than the maximum flow of the biggest pump using the test pit. A general rule
of thumb is to have 10 gallons of water for every GPM of pump capacity.
For example a 2,000 GPM pump x 10 gallons of pit water = 20,000 gallons (90,000 litres) of pit capacity.
We have 2- 1500 GPM Pumpers and a 2000 GPM Aerial.
The pit should be 10 to 15 feet deep to allow for at least 2 feet of head above the bottom of the suction hose while
drafting.
High water temperature, water turbulence, and aeration of the water will cause a pump to prematurely cavitate
during a pump test. The NFPA uses 60 degrees F water temperatures for ratings and the water must remain under
90 degrees F for accurate test results. As the pit water is drawn through the pump and pressurized it heats up. The
best way to control temperature rise is to have sufficient pit water capacity.
OPERATIONS SERVICES – FLEET
20 Spruce Street, Tillsonburg, Ontario, N4G 4Y5, Telephone # (519) 842-9200, Fax # (519) 842-8775
Web: www.town.tillsonburg.on.ca
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The Corporation of the Town of Tillsonburg
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
With a proper pump test pit we would be able to safely and efficiently test our equipment and be in compliance
with the NFPA and ULC standards. We would be able to meet the burden of proof with regards to due diligence
and have the test records to verify it.
The closest pump testing pit that I am aware of is at the City of London Fire Department Training Center and it is
available to rent. While this may seem to be the answer to our problem this solution creates more problems than it
solves. Firstly, we are going to have to pay to use it. They have a testing facility that was built using their
taxpayer’s money and any outside department that wants to use it will have to pay for it. Second, we are going to
have to take our equipment out of service and out of Town. The man time required to take a unit to London, set up
and do the test and return to Tillsonburg would be 8 hours minimum. If any problem should occur during the test
we would be unable to make repairs on the spot and the unit would have to be brought back to Town, repaired at
our shop and retested again back in London. Simple things like adjusting a pump packing that would take a ½ an
hour at our shop would be a 4-hour turn around if we are to use London’s test site. Testing our 3 units would cost
an additional budget expense of $3,000.00 per year providing all the tests proceed without incident but with
adjustments or leaks the cost could easily be $5,000.00 or more. Taking our units out of Town 2 or 3 times would
end up costing more than building our own test pit and performing the tests here permanently.
With a proper test site built here we would be able to perform better tests for the outside departments that we
already service and increase our labour rate accordingly. We are currently charging $50/hr, which we should
increase to $60 or $70/hr. A pump test takes about 4 hours from start to finish and if we increase our labour rate to
$70/hr we would generate $280.00 per test. The pump test itself does not include any repairs or inspections and
for these we charge out additional labour time. Last year alone, I performed pump tests for 10 outside department
pumpers; with a proper test site we could easily solicite 20 to 50 more.
Fire apparatus maintenance is highly specialized and the new NFPA standards (Standard 1071) are requiring EVT
(Emergency Vehicle Technician) certification for anyone doing work on any fire apparatus. I currently hold all
the EVT certifications for fire apparatus and we could and should solicit our repair services or at least rent out our
test pit to the City of Woodstock, Norfolk and Haldimand Counties.
The more contract work we can bring in, the faster our return on investment will be.
We will have a state of the art facility, we already have the trained manpower, the only thing needed is direction
from Council to sell our services and truly generate revenue to the point of ultimately becoming self-sufficient.
OPTIONS
We need to have a proper testing pit with a minimum capacity of 60,000 litres. While having a properly formed
pit made from concrete would be my first choice, I would also explore the option of finding a used Stainless Steel
or Aluminum tanker trailer of the same capacity and making the necessary modifications and burying that in the
ground.
I have no firm costs at this time but when the former Fire Chief explored this a few years ago he thought it would
cost upwards to $10,000.00
RECOMMENDATIONS
That the report by the Fleet Manager be accepted and consideration that a Drafting Test Pit be included in the
Fleet building Expansion Plans.
PREPARED BY:
Dave Davis
APPROVED BY:
OPERATIONS SERVICES – FLEET
20 Spruce Street, Tillsonburg, Ontario, N4G 4Y5, Telephone # (519) 842-9200, Fax # (519) 842-8775
Web: www.town.tillsonburg.on.ca
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