Dressing-Room Downpour Drenches Pageant Contestants

CNN ^ | 12/2/06

[steve-b]

ASHLAND, Kentucky (AP) -- About 1,000 gallons of water poured into a northeastern Kentucky arts center Saturday when a scholarship pageant contestant attempted to steam out the wrinkles in her dress as it hung from a sprinkler head on the ceiling....

[The building operations director] said the arts center probably would place signs in the dressing rooms warning people to not hang garments from the sprinkler heads....

[Vroomfondel]

Warning sign, posted on a "This Is Broken" thread (with additional observations).

I once stayed in a hotel (Novotel in Eindhoven, Holland) that had ashtrays in the room with "no smoking" signs on the bottom.

[Boiling point]

I was a fire alarm contractor. I only worked with the sprinkler guys. A different trade but some companies do both. I have been in building sprinklers are going off in and been involved in the repairs of the fire alarm system after the sprinklers have rained down from one floor to the other, ruining many expensive addressable smoke detectors and other related electronic equipment. I do know that an AMAZING amount of water comes out of a sprinkler head in a short amount of time and if you are close to it, it hurts. Next time you are in a building like a Home Depot or a parking garage, notice the size of the water pipes used for the sprinkler system compared to the domestic water supply pipes in your house. As far as contaminants, it is ALMOST irrelevant. everything in the area just got flooded including any chemicals that may be there. Think Home Depot again.

[Safetgiver]

In a wet system, ethylene glycol is usually added to prevent freezing in winter. Dry systems use no anti-freeze.