A water tower is one part of our water systems. Here’s how it works.
Water towers are landmarks, often having the name of their town or city printed on them. They rise above the treelines, a monument of human civilization. We know they hold water and somehow supply it to the surrounding houses or businesses, but how? How do water towers work? Let’s learn a little more about how our communities’ fundamentals work.
Filling the Gap of Supply and Demand
The water that comes out of our faucets undergoes a long journey to get there. It starts with water from a river, stream, or lake and might enter a reservoir before channeling into a water treatment plant. The plant filters and sanitizes the water, and then the water travels to the nearest homes, businesses, fire hydrants, etc. It isn’t quite as simple as that, though.
If the water simply went to all the homes and businesses every day straight from the water treatment plant through pipes, then it is possible that the demand could become too high for the plant to supply. Should it be a time of day when most use water or firefighters need water to extinguish a burning building, or during a power outage, the water pressure or supply may be too low.
Water towers are water storage tanks that hold water in the interval. When the demand is low, the tower tank fills up with clean water in the meantime. When the power is out, there is still water available to homes from what is stored in the water tower.
Bringing Water to Everyone, No Matter the Elevation
The water can only flow to people’s hose bibs and faucets if something puts pressure on it. Pumps fill the job role. The water tower may need to use multiple pumps or one large enough to bring water to all the surrounding buildings at an adequate pressure.
It becomes harder to keep up the pressure when some buildings are at a higher elevation than others, such as on a steep slope, but the right engineering makes it possible. Hilly areas might need more water towers to cover all the elevations, while some buildings, like skyscrapers, use their own water pumps.
Supplying Water for All the Locale’s Needs
That’s how water towers work. They act as a go-between for water treatment plants and end destinations to ensure that all points can access water without running out, whether it is for washing dishes, drinking, watering plants, or putting out a fire.
Jet Blast Inc. helps water systems out with cleaning services that extend from reservoirs to water treatment plants to water mains. Learn more about what we do on our website!
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