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Break Tank Specifications
Multiple Compartment Fire/Domestic Service- Thick Film Coating
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PART 1 - GENERAL
1.1 RELATED DOCUMENTS
A. Drawings and general provisions of contract,
including General and Supplementary Conditions,
Division 1 Specification section, and Section 15, shall
apply to work of this section.
B. Work of other sections include - Finish painting as
specified in Division 9; Electrical connections for high
and low level alarms as specified in Division 16.
1.2 SCOPE
A. Furnish and install plumbing vessels as shown,
scheduled, listed, and specified in this Section
including, but not limited to: Surge and Break Tanks,
Water Break Tank Fill Valves, and Water Break Tank
Level Management System.
PART 2 - PRODUCTS
2.1 BREAK TANK CONSTRUCTION
A. The Break-Tank™ shall be of the size and
configuration as shown on the plans as manufactured
by Park Equipment Company (800-256-8041) or
equal. Tank shall be constructed in accordance with
American Welding Society Specifications, with
structural design in accordance with AISC latest
issue, and shall comply with NFPA-22-1984 and be in
accordance with the Uniform Building Code as
amended by the City of Houston.
B. The Break-Tank™ shall be divided with a partition
with one compartment for Fire Protection Water and
the other for Potable Water (Only Where Domestic
Storage is Utilized). The partition shall be of the
double wall type extending to the top of the tank,
each wall of the partition shall be sealed with a
continuous weld between the wall and four sides of
the tank. There shall be an air space between the
walls of the partition of not less than four (4) inches
for tanks with a height of ten (10 ) feet or less. For
tanks over ten (10) feet in height, the space between
the walls of the partition shall be not less than six (6)
inches. A non-threaded opening shall be provided at
the bottom of the partition to give visual evidence of
loss of integrity of the wall of the partition. The air
space between the partition walls shall be given a one
(1) psi air test with all welds soaped to assure no
leaks in the partition chamber. The tank fabricator
shall furnish a notarized certificate of compliance with
this test. A metal nameplate indicating the name of
manufacturer, date of manufacture and serial number
of the tank shall be permanently affixed to the tank.
The manufacturer of the tank shall have no less than
five (5) years experience building 3,500 gallon or
larger potable water tanks. No subcontracting of tank
will be permitted. A list of installations of such tanks
shall be furnished as required by the engineer. The
tanks shall be constructed entirely of new materials to
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Break Tank Specifications – Multiple Compartment – TF Coating
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assure against the possibility of contamination from
previous usage.
C. The Break-Tank™ shall be equipped with steel
24”x24” gasketed and bolted manway. The tank shall
be provided with an overflow piped to the overflow pit.
The overflow shall include a return bend vent top, the
same size as the overflow. The vent opening and
overflow riser shall be covered with a stainless steel
screen of not less than one-hundred (100) mesh. To
provide an air gap, the top at the overflow riser shall
be not less than two (2) inches below the fill
connections.
D. The Break-Tank™ shall include the following and
such other items detailed on the plans.
1. Top - 3/16” steel plate minimum.
2. Shell or sides - 1/4” plate minimum.
3. Bottom - 1/4” plate minimum.
4. 150 PSI ANSI flanged carbon steel nozzles and
3000 PSI steel half couplings (as required for
tank connections).
5. 24”x24” manway with cover, flange, gasket, and
stainless steel bolts on top of tank.
6. Interior and exterior ladders shall be galvanized
steel & bolted to tank with stainless steel bolts.
7. Stilling wells for make-up valve floats and for
tank alarm electrodes.
8. Water-level sight glass consisting of two one-half
inch angle valves with ball checks, 1/4” needle
drain valve, and 5/8” clear sight glass with brass
protection rods.
9. Pump suction elbows and connections shall be
adequately sized for fire pumps and domestic
pumps. Vortex plates shall be 48”x48” for fire
suction on tank.
10. Split flange float access openings for fill valve
floats.
2.2 TANK PROTECTIVE COATINGS
A. Application procedures shall conform to the standards
of Craftsmanship in the Steel Structures Painting
Manual, Volume 1, Good Painting Practice. These
techniques include, but are not limited to, multiple
passes of the spray gun, with each pass overlapped
50%, and “cross hatching” successive coats of paint.
B. Materials shall be thinned only with the
manufacturer’s recommended thinners, and shall be
thinned only the amount required to adjust the
viscosity for temperature variations, proper
atomization and flow-out.
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Break Tank Specifications
Multiple Compartment Fire/Domestic Service- Thick Film Coating
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C. All coats of paint on the interior surfaces shall be from
the same manufacturers and shall be listed under
ANSI/NFS Standard 61 Listing for Drinking Water
Systems. Coating shall be applied per manufacturer’s
recommendations.
2.3 PROTECTIVE COATING SYSTEMS
A. INTERIOR SURFACES
1. Surface Preparation: per SSPC-SP10 near
white blast clean with 3-4 mil/ 100 micron
dense, sharp anchor profile free of peening,
as measured by ASTM D 4417.
2. Thick-Film Coating: Carboline – Plasite 140-
S 100% Solids Flake Filled, Premium Epoxy
Coating with 30-40 mil/ 1 mm dry film
thickness. Do not exceed 60 mils.
B. EXTERIOR SURFACES
1. Surface Preparation: Per SSPC-SP10 near
white blast clean, with 1.5-2.0 mil/ 50 micron
dense, sharp anchor profile free of peening,
as measured by ASTM D 4417.
2. Prime Coat: Devoe - Bar-Ox P-50 Universal
Heavy Duty Alkyd Primer (red oxide) with 2-
2-3 mil dry film thickness.
3. Finish Coat: Specified and furnished under
Division 9.
C. COATINGS INSPECTION & WARRANTY
1. Film thickness shall be checked with a
nondestructive, magnetic pull-off gauge such
as a Mikrotest Model DFG-100 or electronic
thickness gauge. The national Bureau of
standards certified thickness calibration
plates shall be used to verify accuracy of the
thickness gauge.
2. Holiday Test: Interior surfaces shall be
holiday tested using a 67 1/2 volt DC,
80,000 ohm Tinker-Rasor wet sponge
holiday detector, or equal.
3. Warranty: The manufacturer of the tank shall
warrant the interior protective coating
system for a period of 5 years from the date
of application. Warranty information shall be
submitted for the engineer’s review.
2.4 WATER SUPPLY FILL VALVES
A. Fill valves, sized on the plans, shall be Cla-Val #124
pilot operated diaphragm type float valves with flow-
clean strainer, pvc float rods of required length,
polypropylene floats and closing speed control for 6”
or larger.
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Break Tank Specifications – Multiple Compartment – TF Coating
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Park Environmental
2.5 BREAK TANK LEVEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
A. General Requirements: Contractor shall furnish a UL
listed Level Management System for tank level
control. The level management system shall be
designed to operate with the break tank and be
provided by the tank vendor. The panel shall be
completely wired and tested prior to shipment. All
equipment shall be new. Complete electrical
diagrams, dimensional drawing and functional
systems description shall be provided to the Engineer
for approval.
B. Level Management System: Provide a Break-Tank™
Model BTU annunciation panel for the break tank.
The panel shall be microprocessor based and
include; continuous water level readout (0 to 100%),
touch-screen controls, audible/visual alarms, silence
pushbutton, and indicators for low and high water
level in each compartment, a dry contact to shut-
down the domestic water pump in the event of a low
water level condition, a dry contact to close a
solenoid block valve in the event of high level.
Nameplates shall be affixed for the silence
pushbutton and the indicator lights. A common 120V
alarm bell with a silencing pushbutton shall be
included in the panel and activated for high and low
water levels. The high/low level alarms and can be
interfaced and monitored by the Building Control and
Automation System (BCAS). Provide auxiliary
contacts for BCAS interface.
C. Transmitter Controls: Each tank compartment shall
have an ultrasonic transmitter for water level
monitoring. The transmitter shall have NEMA-4X
housing, automatic temperature compensation, 3”
beam width, and accuracy of 0.2%.
D. Control System Instruction: A manufacturer’s
representative shall be present for a minimum of one
day to supervise the final adjustment of the control
system after installation is complete and to instruct
the operating personnel in the use of the equipment.
The manufacturer shall maintain a local service
organization and spare parts available from local
stock.
PART 3 - INSTALLATION
A. Pipe and install the break tank as shown on the
drawings and per manufacturer’s recommendations.
The break tank shall be installed on an equipment
(housekeeping) pad, set the bottom of the tank in a
1/8” thick Carboline Bitumastic that covers the area of
the equipment pad.
B. Thoroughly clean the inside and outside of the tank
and verify that all vermin screens and other required
trims are installed prior to filling tank. Adjust level
alarms and fill valves for proper operation and secure
manway cover prior to operating tank.
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Break Tank Specifications Park Environmental

Multiple Compartment Fire/Domestic Service- Thick Film Coating
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END OF SECTION

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Break Tank Specifications – Multiple Compartment – TF Coating spec-BTC-TF-U.doc