Comparison Misting vs Water Sprinklers
ISSUES
MISTING
Resident researched spec - Plumis Automist
WATER
Council Spec - Viking Residential Concealed
Horizontal Sidewall Sprinklers (VK480)!
Water Rate discharge"
Automist vs alternatives Video
✓
💧 "
5.6 litres per minute!(90% less water)
!✘
💧 💧 💧 💧 💧 💧 💧 💧 💧 💧 "
49 litres per minute (for MINIMUM 30 mims)
Resident control & override
✓
🎛
Control panel to disable in case of accidental
activation
✘
🎛
Council doesn’t trust residents with ability to
deactivate
Speed to activate (preventing toxic gas) *
✓
🏎
Under 100 seconds - proven to activate up to 2
minutes earlier than traditional systems
✘
🚗
Around 200 seconds allowing for a build up of
toxic gases & smoke
Handles consealed fires
✓
Due to the physical properties of mist particles
they will be actively drawn into a concealed fire,
suppressing it at source
✘
If water sprinklers don’t have line of sight to the
base of a fire it will have limited effect on it
No need for legionaries desease test
✓
😀
Pipes are dry so no tests required
✘
🤮 🤒
Due to stagnate water in pipes it may be a
requirement for annual legionnaires disease test
Dedicated extra water tanks required
✓
Due to using 90% less water, extra water tanks are
not necessarily required. (depending on individual
building design & water authority)
✘
Extra water tanks will be needed to be installed
(and maintained)
Possibility of flooding flats below & insurance
issues **
✓
😀
Due to using 90% less water, flooding is kept to a
minimum
✘
📜
An activation will mean a water discharge
equivalent to 12 or more bathtubs of water. This
will cause water damage to flats below.
Residents may be liable for damage to others
properties.
Core drilling require for extra pipe work
✓
👷
Typically installed just a few hours with minimal
impact to the building
✘
👷 👷
Core drilling required, potential breaches to
compartmentalisation, new external pipework
required the could freeze & bust if not dry pipes.
Put you in breach of lease
✓
*
An activation should not cause significant issues to
flats below or cause a breach of lease
✘
*
We are in breach of our lease if we allow water
to percolate and fall from balconies. A sprinkler
activation would create this scenario
Flexible discreet pipe work
✓
Flexible high pressure hoses, which do not need to
go through the ceiling and can be run internally at
floor level
✘
Large pipework needed to run internally at
ceiling height
potential need to redesign flats
✓
Flexible design should mean no or minimal
movement of furniture
✘
High risk that Floor to ceiling shelves and
kitchen cabinets may need to be removed at
residents expense.
Wifi connected and smart device to notify you
of activation
✓
Options for the system to be ‘smart’ to notify you
( or emergency services) of activation.
✘
Council has no plans for a smart system
Complete system test during yearly inspection
✓
Annual tests of the full system operation from
detection to activation are quick and simple—
usually taking only a few minutes.
✘
Annual test do not do a full system test (as
water sprinklers can’t be activated in test
conditions)
Ability for personal possessions to be saved
(due to water quality)
✓
😀
Water comes directly from mains. It will be same
quality as drinking water, allowing the chance that
personal possessions can be dried & saved post
activation
✘
😷 🤢 💨 🛋 🖼 "
Due to water potentially sitting in tanks for a
long time before use. Sprinkler water is often
dirty and smelly, along with volume of water
used, making it hard to salvage any items in flat
once activate
Target ‘At Risk ‘ Residents
✓
🎯
A modular system that can be installed in to
individual flats on multiple occupancy blocks.
Giving protection to those most at risk
✘
🏢 "
The system, with it’s water tanks and pipe work
needs to be installed in the whole block
Activation Shock to Elderly/Vulnerable
✓
😀
Activation is quieter and less shocking than a
water sprinkler.
✘
😱 "
The noise and water deluge could cause serious
shock to Elderly/Vulnerable residents causing a
health concern
Cost
✓
🤑 🤑 🤑
The overall cost of the system, without extra tanks
and pipework should be cheaper than a water
sprinkler
✘
🤑 🤑 🤑 🤑
Extra pipework and tanks, including yearly
maintenance would likely cost more that misting
system
Conform to British Standards
✓
Misting Sprinklers confirm to the BS 8458:2015
Standard
✓
Water Sprinklers confirm to the BS 9251:2014
Standard
Reliability
✘/✓
Misting systems are relatively new to the market.
They have been specifically designed for
residential use and retro-fitting in mind. They are
backed up by fire engineering scientists. People
may consider ‘traditional’ water sprinklers to be
more of a known quantity. Which is not to say a
misting system is less reliable, just the historic
data is not there. Misting system can improve
further over time as data modelling is feed into the
system
✘/✓
Water Sprinklers were invented in 18th century,
They have over 100 years historic use, making it
easier for local authorities to design a
specification (At the expense of all the issue
above). Water sprinklers were originally
designed for commercial use, not for residential
settings.
** visualisation of minimum water discharge for a water sprinkler activation
* Speed to activate Automist vs water sprinkler
** visualisation of water discharge for a misting sprinkler activation