Surrey: There are some rural and agricultural areas of Surrey that are not currently serviced with fire hydrants. To support firefighting operations in these areas of the city, the Surrey Fire Service maintains a fleet of 5 Water Tanker Trucks. This Water Tanker fleet is capable of providing a constant water supply to a fire scene in these areas not serviced by fire hydrants.
While sourcing a supplier for the new Water Tankers, it was discovered that for very little cost, the city could also acquire a means to provide a water purification system on each Tanker. This water purification system could be utilized to supply the best quality drinking water in the event of a disruption in potable water distribution or a complete water main failure, resulting from a natural or man-caused disaster. This system is an independent, four-stage integrated water purification system (sediment filters, carbon filters, UV, and Ozone devices) to remove biological and chemical contamination from a fresh water source. Key components of this unit are certified to NSF industry standards, which guarantee the best purification ability and safety to human health. These water purification units, however, are not capable of desalinating salt water.
As part of a Fire Apparatus replacement plan, Surrey Fire Service will be taking delivery of 3 new Tanker/Water Purification Units. The new Water Tankers will replace older units of less capacity and capabilities and will be in full service by the middle of August, 2015.
Using the fire pump to supply the water purification system, each Water Tanker unit is capable of filtering 500 imperial gallons per hour, or, 12,000 imperial gallons per day for a 3 truck total of 36,000 gallons of potable water per day, provided there is a constant supply from a fresh water source.
Each new Water Tanker Unit comes equipped with:
- 2000 imperial gallon water tank
- 1500 GPM Darley Fire Pump
- Darley Purifire 500 gallons per hour Water Purification System (advanced filtration/chemical free)
- 5 person capacity enclosed cab
In 2009, Surrey Fire Service underwent a service review with the Canadian Fire Underwriters Survey, the results of which are a determining factor in the Insurance industry for establishing Fire Insurance rates. An outcome of this review provided Surrey Fire Service with a “Superior Tanker Shuttle Accreditation”. Fire Underwriters recognize this “Tanker Shuttle Accreditation” as being the equivalency to having fire hydrants in areas that are not serviced by fire hydrants, and as such, results in reduced fire insurance premiums.
