Elcima is supplying a fire water source to Grenoble-Alpes Métropole for its new household packaging sorting center.

Fire Safety in Sorting Centers

On average, a major fire occurs every month at household packaging sorting centers. These incidents cause significant damage and plant shutdowns, which severely hinder local communities’ recycling processes. The logistical, environmental, and financial challenges associated with fire risks are significant. To mitigate these risks, it is essential to implement technical fire suppression solutions that are tailored to the risks, reliable, and compliant with standards, with the goal of quickly and effectively extinguishing a fire in its early stages.

Elcimaï Environnement Delivers a Fire Water Supply

Grenoble-Alpes Métropole has commissioned Elcimaï Environnement to build a fire water supply. It will supply the automatic water-based sprinkler fire suppression systems at its new household packaging sorting center, which was recently built and is currently being commissioned.

The system consists of a pump room equipped with two redundant diesel motor-pump units, each with a flow rate of 600 m³/h, drawing from a 1,200 m³ integrated reservoir. This reservoir comprises two interconnected tanks, each 11.5 meters in diameter and 7.30 meters high. The system has a 120-minute operational autonomy.

As the facility is located near the Isère River, in a complex geotechnical context and within seismic zone 4, special foundations consisting of 130 micropiles drilled to a depth of 18 meters were required.

“Built in accordance with the NFPA 20 (National Fire Protection Association) standard, this water source is also designed to supply the automatic water-based fire suppression systems of the future waste-to-energy plant, which is scheduled to be constructed and commissioned in 2028,” explains Julien Bourhis, Business Manager at Elcimaï Environnement. “The facility will therefore serve both industrial sites.”