When you think of a small town in America you can not help but picture a water tower soaring above the homes, proudly displaying the town’s name. Even though you might not see them, every town and city in America has at least one water storage tank, if not many water tanks spread around the community. Why do some water tanks tower above the town while other water tanks are hidden in the hills or simply placed along city streets like any other house or shopping mall? Also, why do some water facilities only have a shed with large pipes sticking out of them? Here at Water Nuggets we have the answers for you.
Elevated Storage Tanks
When you see a water tower high above the city streets with a town’s name in big bold letters, this is not simply a way to proudly display the name of that town. The height of the tower serves a particular purpose. Having the water high above the ground is what provides the city residents with water pressure in their homes. The water pressure is created by simply using gravity to deliver the water. A water pump using electricity may pump water up to the tank high above, but once that tank is full, gravity will deliver the water to the residents with enough pressure to shower, do laundry, and flush toilets even in the event of a power outage. We won’t go deep into the math, but a house next to an elevated water tank that is 100’ in high will receive a pressure of 43.3psi with out the use of any water pumps. You might be thinking that’s great, but you don’t have a water tank towering above your town. So how are you getting your water pressure and where are the water tanks at?
Water Tanks on Hills
Have you ever noticed the towns with elevated water tanks soaring in the sky tend to be in flat lands with no mountains nearby? In many areas, the natural hills and mountains are where water tanks are built to create natural elevation for the tanks to provide residents with water pressure using the natural force of gravity. Just like the elevated tanks in the flatlands, water pumps will be used to fill these tanks and then the tanks can feed a water system with an ample amount of water to meet demand and provide residents with water pressure at all times. This is a great energy saver in the long run. Instead of a water pump constantly pumping water from a water tank to meet the use and pressure demand, a pump can be used at night for a few hours to fill a water tank and gravity can do the rest during the day. Providing water pressure using gravity is even used in big cities like New York. Pumps will be used to pump water to tanks on top of sky rise office buildings and high rise apartment buildings. Then the tanks on top will use gravity to deliver adequate water pressure to its users in the building. Now you might be thinking, I have no hills in my area and I have no elevated water tanks in my town. How am I getting my water pressure?
Water Tank on Top of Hill
What if You Don’t Have Any Hills or Elevated Tanks
If you don’t notice the obvious elevated water tower soaring above your town or a have hills in your general area, you probably get your water pressure from the use of water pumps. In today’s high tech world water pumps are able to sense the water pressure demand and water use demand in a water system. The pumps will then adjust their flow rate to that demand. If your water system uses such water pumps consider yourself lucky. During peak water usage times like an evening during the summer, homes far away from a water system facility will still receive plenty of water pressure due to these fantastic water pumps. These facilities do not take up much room and may be located next to a water tank off the road or could be a simple looking shed with a pipe coming out of it preventing an obvious eyesore for the community.
Water Tank Next to Water Pump Station
Now you know that sky high water towers provide more for a community than a name plate and why some communities don’t have a water tower at all. We have also learned how gravity is a great natural tool that provides us with wonderful water pressure to fill our bathtubs and wash our cars. You might have even found out what that small building in your town is with the water district’s logo on it. We here at Water Nuggets hope you enjoyed this nugget of water information and look forward to more of your comments and questions at www.waternuggets.com.
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