System and Method of Automatic Tank Refill

A method for automatically refilling a water tank mounted on a fire truck, comprising:

• automatically determining that the water level in the tank is low;
• automatically determining that a sufficient volume of water is supplied to a pump;
• automatically determining that a speed of an engine of the fire truck is less than a predetermined maximum speed, where the engine drives the pump;
• automatically opening a control valve to permit water from a discharge outlet of the pump to flow to the water tank;
• automatically increasing the engine speed and a speed of the pump to increase a water volume from the pump discharge outlet so that adequate water volume is supplied to a fire hose while water is supplied to the water tank;
• automatically determining that the water level in the tank is high;
• automatically closing the control valve in response to determining the water level in the tank is high;
• and
• automatically decreasing the engine speed and the pump speed.

A memory having stored therein computer software code executable by a computer to implement a method for automatically refilling a water tank used for firefighting applications, comprising:

• automatically determining that the water level in the tank is generally below a first predetermined level set point;
• automatically determining an intake pressure of a pump is generally at a predetermined operating set point;
• automatically determining that a speed of an engine of a fire truck is less than a predetermined maximum speed, where the engine drives the pump;
• automatically opening a control valve to permit water from a discharge outlet of the pump to flow to the water tank;
• automatically and gradually increasing the engine speed and a speed of the pump so that adequate water volume is supplied to a fire hose while water is supplied to the water tank, until the water level in the tank is generally at a second predetermined level set point;
• automatically closing the control valve;
• and
• automatically and gradually decreasing the engine speed and the pump speed until the discharge pressure of the pump is generally at a predetermined operating set point.

A system for automatically refilling a water tank mounted on a fire truck having an engine driving a pump, comprising:

• a first pressure sensor coupled to an intake inlet of the pump and operable to sense an intake pressure;
• a second pressure sensor coupled to a discharge outlet of the pump and operable to sense a discharge pressure;
• a level sensor coupled to the water tank operable to sense a water level;
• a first pump discharge pipe coupled between the discharge outlet of the pump and a fire hose;
• a second pump discharge pipe coupled between the discharge outlet of the pump and the water tank;
• a control valve disposed in the second pump discharge pipe;
• and
• a controller operable to automatically sense a low water level condition of the water tank, and automatically control the engine speed, the pump speed, and the control valve so that adequate water supply to the fire hose via the first pump discharge pipe is automatically maintained while automatically diverting water to fill the water tank via the second pump discharge pipe.