Gas Cylinder Bushfire Safety by Elgas – Video
Tips by Paul HunterÂ
- I purchased a single impeller Onga firefighting pump with Honda petrol engine. Must be a Honda.
Pros and cons of single impeller Vs twin impeller pumps depend on application and RIS will advise.
Firefighting pumps deliver high volumes of water [as opposed to pressure which they also deliver] and must be petrol or diesel powered.
2. No system is a guarantee of survival but, I believe, now essential due to climate change / this extreme drought and the future implications.
3. These pumps deliver from about 400+ litres of water per minute [mine is about 600 litres] depending on head so availability of water and quantity is key = No good putting a 600 litre a minute pump on a 3,000 litre tank!
I initially plumbed my system [4 roof sprinklers & 4 high pressure tap offtakes from each corner of the house] to my tanks which hold 70,000 litres when full but then realised I needed it to be optionally sourced from my dam because a] the tanks may not be full and b] the pump pulls 600 litres per minute.
4. Assess what quantity of water your tanks hold and how much water you harvest off your roof for collection. Consider installing a dam for various reasons including firefighting. But get an expert dam builder. Assess the suitability of your site and subsoil for dam building – you need good clay.
If the neighbours have dams chances are you can build one which holds water too.
5. Depending on your current tank storage capacity and the state of the river consider pumping from the river to one or more tanks [as the situation demands] and treating with chlorine [dosage rates available on the internet but I can tell you what I do] allowing that chlorine to burn off over a few days to provide drinking water back up.
