Difference Between a Water Filter & a Dry Pipe

Water Filtration

• Irrigation systems need some sort of water filtration. Water filters extend the system's life while lowering necessary maintenance. In a drip irrigation system, water filters prevent plugging of emitters. Even tiny particles, such as grains of sand, may not actually clog a system but cause wear and tear on it. A system's automatic valves may become clogged, with the valve no longer able to open or close and operate correctly.

Types of Water Filters

• The right water filter depends on the particular system, its uses and its location. The most common and cheapest, screen filters, remove hard particles from water, including sand. Cartridge filters usually contain paper filters working similarly to a screen filter. The filter's texture can remove organic materials. When the cartridge becomes too dirty, simply replace it. Media filters clean by forcing water through a chamber filled with a certain media, often crushed sand. However, media leaves the chamber during the filtration process and is not recommended for sandy areas. Disk filters, a screen/media filter hybrid, are a better choice for sandy soils. Centrifugal filters, also called sand separators, are the best choice for situations of heavy sand presence in the water, as they are the least likely to clog.

Fire Suppression Systems

• Nearly 90 percent of fires in buildings with sprinkler systems are extinguished by water discharging from one or two sprinkler heads, or approximately 40 gallons of water, according to Harvard University's Campus Services. This compares to a 150 to 250 gallons per minute fire hose discharge. Fewer than 10 percent of fires require more than four sprinkler heads activating. The majority of these fires are doused within seconds, with a minimum number of active sprinkler heads.

Dry Pipes

• In areas that regularly experience freezing temperatures, the dry pipe system may be used in a fire suppression system. The pipes in the sprinkler system are not filled with water, but with nitrogen or pressurized air. This holds a dry-pipe valve in the closed position. The valve does not allow water to enter the pipe unless a fire causes a sprinkler to become operational. At that point, the air comes out of the valve, releasing it. Water then flows through the pipe through the sprinklers to quench the fire.