UFC 3-420-01
25 October 2004
the level of the showerhead.
Alarms protect people by promptly summoning help, and protect stored materials,
equipment, and facilities by indicating or reporting ES/EWS activation, with its
attendant water flow.
3. FLOOR DRAINS - Floor drains for ES/EWS are not required by the International
Plumbing Code (IPC) 2000 edition, see Section 411.
a. Owners and occupants prefer floor drains, for housekeeping and for material
and facility protection reasons.
The floor drain may become a source of illicit disposal of prohibited
substances. Careful supervision will be necessary.
b. Floor drains may be provided. The Environmental Protection Agency
regulation, 40 CFR 261, describes " ...the following mixtures of solid wastes and
hazardous wastes listed in Subpart D are not hazardous wastes..." "..."de minimis"
losses include ..." "...discharges from safety showers and rinsing and cleaning of
personal safety equipment;...". Therefore, ES/EWS discharges may be drained to the
sanitary sewer system, as they are "de minimis" losses.
c. Floor drains, where provided, should comply with the following:
1) Minimum capacity of 45 gallons per minute (2.8 L/s) water flow, based upon
1.5 times the ANSI Z 358.1 standard water flow minimum requirement.
The floor drain must accommodate the full flow of the ES/EWS to avoid spilling
water over the containment curb, into the hazardous material storage area,
and to avoid damage to the material and the facility in case of continuous
ES/EWS operation.
2) Floor drains should be provided with 4-inch (100 mm) deep seal traps.
Frequent testing of the ES/EWS, as required by ANSI Z 358.1, will refill the trap seal.
The deep seal trap is provided to reduce the problem of the unused trap drying
out and allowing the back flow of sewer gases, fumes, and vermin into the
space. Weekly testing of the ES/EWS will be usage enough to refill the trap
seal; otherwise, provide an automatic trap priming valve connected to the cold
water supply to maintain the trap seal.
3) For HAZMAT areas, provide a 1.5 inch (37 mm) high ES/EWS containment
curb completely around the ES/EWS, slope the exterior (approach) face of the curb up
at a slope of 1/12 rise, but not more than 1 /8 rise per Uniform Federal Accessibility
Standards (UFAS) 4.1.6, mark the ES/EWS curb as a trip hazard per OSHA regulations,
and inform the personnel that the ES/EWS curb exists. Where ES/EWS with floor
drains are located within hazardous material (hazmat) spill containment bermed or
curbed areas, provide the crest of the ES/EWS curb to be 1.5 inch (37 mm) higher than
D-2
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