It will be important for conservators and preservation staff to determine whether or not these new agents can chemically damage fine art pigments or other collections. As several of these organizations have discovered, the health safety of water is already known. Sprinklers are individually operated, heat-activated devices. Contrary to popular belief, the activation of one sprinkler does not cause all sprinklers to operate. Advantages include the statistic that wet-pipe sprinkler systems are the most reliable and safest fire extinguishing method available.
Sprinkler systems are relatively easy to maintain and modify, saving facilities expenditure.
Smoke detection equipment can provide early warning of a developing fire, permitting manual suppression opportunity prior to sprinkler activation. The environmental and human safety aspects of water is known, unlike possible impact from the various chemical agents. Recovery techniques for water-damaged materials are also known. Disadvantages include possible high initial installation expenditures to install the new system. Water clean up and restoration efforts will be necessary following discharge.