(A) No person shall install or maintain a water service connection where a booster pump has been installed, unless an approved method is in place and is operational to maintain a minimum suction pressure as prescribed in the following:
(1) For booster pumps not intended to be used for fire suppression, no person shall install or maintain a water service connection to any premises where a booster pump has been installed on the service line to or within such premises, unless such booster pump is equipped with a low pressure cut-off designed to shut off the booster pump when the pressure in the service line on the suction side of the pump drops to ten pounds per square inch gauge or less.
(2) For booster pumps used for fire suppression, also referred to as fire pumps, no person shall install or maintain a water service connection to any premises where a fire pump has been installed on the service line to or within such premises, unless the pump is equipped with one of the following:
(a) A low suction throttling valve which is a pilot-operated valve installed in the discharge piping that maintains positive pressure in the suction piping, while monitoring pressure in the suction piping through a sensing line. The valve must throttle the discharge of the pump when necessary so that suction pressure will not be reduced below ten pounds per square inch gauge while the pump is operating.
(b) A variable speed suction limiting control which is a speed control system used to maintain a minimum positive suction pressure at the pump inlet by reducing the pump driver speed while monitoring pressure in the suction piping through a sensing line. It will be set so that the suction pressure will not be reduced below ten pounds per square inch gauge while the pump is operating.
(3) Booster pumps used for fire suppression, also referred to as fire pumps, installed prior to August 8, 2008, which are equipped with a low pressure cut-off as defined in division (A)(1) of this rule, are not required to be modified solely for the purpose of meeting the new methods accepted after this date, under division (A)(2) of this rule.
(B) The water consumer shall maintain the low pressure cut-off device, the low suction throttling valve, or the variable speed suction limiting control in proper working order and certify to the supplier of water, at least once every 12 months that the minimum suction pressure sustaining method is operable and maintained in continuous operation.
(C) The supplier of water shall maintain electronic or paper records of inventory of booster pump installations. Electronic or paper records certifying operation must be retained for a period of five years.
(D) The provisions of this rule shall be followed notwithstanding inconsistent provisions in the “Great Lakes-Upper Mississippi River Board of State and Provincial Public Health and Environmental Managers’ Recommended Standards for Water Works” (2012). As of March 2020, copies are available from “Ohio EPA, Lazarus Government Center, 50 West Town Street, Suite 700, Columbus, OH 43215, (614) 644-2752” or online at http://10statesstandards.com or www.epa.ohio.gov/ddagw.
(Res. 17-2020, passed 4-21-2020)