Columbus Automatic Sprinkler takes pride in making buildings safer through the inspection and installation of professional fire sprinkler systems. We are currently licenced in the State of Alabama and Georgia and will be testing soon for Florida. Brandon and his staff have a combined experience of over 75 years and all share the same value of quality and performance.
The world’s first sprinkler system was installed in the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in the United Kingdom in 1812. The systems consisted of a cylindrical airtight reservoir of 400 hogsheads fed by a 10in water main which branched to all parts of the theatre. A series of smaller pipes feed from the distribution pipe were pierced with a series of 1/2" holes which pour water in the event of a fire.
From 1852 to 1885, perforated pipe systems were used in textile mills throughout New England as a means of fire protection. However, they were not automatic systems; they did not turn on by themselves. Inventors first began experimenting with automatic sprinklers around 1860. The first automatic sprinkler system was patented by Philip W. Pratt of Abington, MA, in 1872.
Henry S. Parmalee of New Haven, Connecticut is considered the inventor of the first automatic sprinkler head. Parmalee improved upon the Pratt patent and created a better sprinkler system. In 1874, he installed his fire sprinkler system into the piano factory that he owned. Frederick Grinnell improved Parmalee's design and in 1881 patented the automatic sprinkler that bears his name. He continued to improve the device and in 1890 invented the glass disc sprinkler, essentially the same that is in use today.
