Patent ID: 7647981

Claim:
A fire suppression system for use in connection with a multilevel building having two or more floors, the building being supplied with water by one or more water delivery pipes in fluid communication with one or more water supply pipes, comprising: a sprinkler system located in the building and in fluid communication with the one or more water delivery pipes, for distributing water within the building; two or more pumps located in the building, each of the pumps being in fluid communication with an associated different portion of the sprinkler system and each of the pumps including or associated with a pressure switch and a hydraulic pressure sensor; whereby a hydraulic pressure drop is measured by the pressure sensors and transmitted to the pressure switches and, upon finding a sufficient pressure drop corresponding to a fire condition, activating the pumps and thereby increasing the water volume which would otherwise be output to the associated different portions of the sprinkler systems; and wherein at least some of the pumps include a shutoff valve and a test water release valve in fluid communication with a one-way valve located on the inlet side of the pump, whereby when the shutoff valve is closed and the test water release valve is opened, a pressure drop sensed by the pressure sensor of the pumps activates the pumps, indicating that at least a portion of the system is operational.