Do Water Towers serve a purpose?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I think in earlier decades, water towers were a source of city pride. The city would erect one and put its name on it.</p>

<p>however, did they ever really serve a purpose? If so, do they serve a purpose now?</p>

<p>Were they really used to store water (if so, how much would one tower hold??)</p>

<p>Were they placed high to prevent someone from easily contaminating the water?</p>

<p>I know this is an odd concern, but I recently was on a main east/west Interstate and saw a couple of water towers and it piqued my curiosity.</p>

2

<p>here is info about a local neighborhoods towers
[Water</a> Towers](<a href=“http://www.qahistory.org/watertowers.htm]Water”>http://www.qahistory.org/watertowers.htm)</p>

<p>and about the replacement
[The</a> Seattle Times: Local News: Water tower design criticized](<a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003116721_watertower10m.html]The”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003116721_watertower10m.html)</p>

3

<p>They are raised to provide pressure. You pump the water up into the tower and the weight of the water above your shower head is why the water sprays out with force.</p>

4

<p>The only time my kids ever saw water towers was when we went to visit family in the midwest. So they served the purpose of amusing my kids on the long drive.</p>

5

<p>Where it’s hilly they are just a metal tank at ground level on a hill. You could drive by one hidden behind trees and maybe not know. Out in flat country they have to be on legs. But I’m really curious where you live that your kids never saw them?</p>

6

<p>I grew up in California, and I had never seen a water tower until I visited Manhattan for the first time in my 20s.</p>

7

<p>What’s a hill?</p>

<p>:-)</p>

8

<p>I’m a flatlander from the rural southeast. There are water towers everywhere.
I’ve not traveled far and wide so had no idea that water towers weren’t common everywhere else. </p>

<p>The water tower in our future retirement town has the high school name and mascot painted on it. It looks great.</p>

9

<p>They absolutely serve a purpose. We live out in the country and are part of a rural water district rather than city utilities. The tower stores water and provides some water pressure in our very flat area. Most small towns and rural areas round here have water towers. </p>

<p>I also assumed they were the norm everywhere in the US.</p>

<p>The rural water districts in our part of the world are operated by volunteers. My husband has been on the board of ours for years. Is currently president and has been for a while. It is quite a bit of work and responsibility and they have to understand follow all the EPA rules. He turns 70 next year but there is no sign of someone new stepping up to take over.</p>

10

<p>We have a lot of water towers out here. I assumed they were for advertising. :P</p>

11

<p>They’re like a capacitor or battery, or shock absorber, and like a voltage source. </p>

<p>They raise the level of the water high enough that gravity on the water provides the pressure to push it through the lines (like a voltage potential is necessary for electric current to flow). They provide enough water in the reservoir so that when there’s a large sudden demand, like when sprinklers go off or 100 people flush at the same time, it can provide enough volume to level out the transients. </p>

<p>It’d be possible to provide the water via pumps directly from the source to the demand point but it’d suffer from having to turn off/on depending on demand and try to handle the variable load. It’s much simpler to pump it to a reservoir. </p>

<p>And people say water and electricty don’t mix - the concepts between the two do.</p>

<p>The more simple answer - the tank holds the water high enough that gravity provides enough pressure have the water come out where it’s needed in enough volume needed. The water company can pump the water up when it’s needed - i.e. if the tank drops by a 1/4 or 1/3 they can fill it back up at their leisure as long as they don’t let it run dry. It’s like a big toilet tank.</p>

<p>All the tanks around here are sitting on the ground at the top of hills as well rather than elevated like in the flatlands. They try to make them blend in with the surroundings hence no city name on them. That’s kind of hard to do in Kansas so they may as well use it to advertise their name - especially when it’s a small town and it actually serves an informative purpose.</p>

12

<p>We live in suburban DC. If there are water towers around here someone’s hiding them well.</p>

13

<p>If there are water towers around here someone’s hiding them well.
There is only three.
[General</a> Information - DC Water - District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority](<a href=“http://www.dcwasa.com/about/gen_information.cfm]General”>http://www.dcwasa.com/about/gen_information.cfm)</p>

14

<p>They provide a very convenient place for communications antennas</p>

15

<p>They use power to pump during the late night hours when power is cheaper and let gravity deliver the stored savings during the high energy demand daylight hours. Also, they provide water vital pressure for an extended period of time should there be a prolonged power outage. </p>

<p>Water towers are a very efficient and dependable rechargeable battery that power a crucial service.</p>

16

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<p>In that case you never drove through Davis. The water tower is one of the main symbols of the UC Davis campus.</p>

<p>[File:Water</a> Tower, UC Davis(cropped).jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Water_Tower,_UC_Davis(cropped).jpg]File:Water”>File:Water Tower, UC Davis(cropped).jpg - Wikipedia)</p>

17

<p>Thanks for the insights…</p>

<p>I’m a Californian and didn’t see them much. I thouht they were just quaint city landmarks. </p>

<p>They are cute to see…kind of like lighthouses on the coast…it’s unfortunate when some aren’t well-maintained and look rusty/unpainted…</p>

18

<p>There are tons of water towers around LA. Many are huge and just above Foothills, they are easy to find on google maps.</p>

19

<p>My dad was a civil engineer working in the water and sewage industry in California. I’ve seen probably more water towers than any single person should. In areas like California, where many communities have nearby hillsides, the water “towers” are tanks hidden in the hills. (My country club has one hidden near hole 7. I only know because I tend to hit it a lot…) </p>

<p>And UC Davis has two water towers, with a third water tower on the border of town.</p>

20

<p>We have one in my town, and there are a lot of them around here. This is a road I take occasionally, that is up pretty high and gives a nice view of the area, and you can see tower after tower.</p>