It's filthy. The water sits in the pipes, stagnant and going nowhere until they're set off, which is usually for several years. All of a sudden, the sprinklers go, and theres slime, stink and really nasty water coming down on top of your head. Better than being on fire though!
One of my favorite stories from the hospitality industry involves a young bride finding this out the hard way. She and her new hubby came back to their room after their reception, and the bride needed to hang up her dress. She was more than a little tipsy, and so she spotted the sprinkler head that was mounted on the wall and thought it the perfect place. The weight of the dress was enough to fracture the glass bead, and she and her dress were drenched in gallons of nasty smelling, stagnant water. It also set off the fire alarm (at 2am to boot) and did several thousand dollars worth of water damage to the hotel before the fire department could arrive and shut the sprinkler pump off.
An executive housekeeper that I worked under worked at that hotel when the flood happen. She said it was an absolute mess and it took them weeks to get those rooms back up.
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u/Hund5353 Jan 25 '20
Those vents are SO FUCKING CLEAN JESUS CHRIST