# Water Towers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 12, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-towers/160925 "2003-03-12T20:37:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ForeverAdolescent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@ForeverAdolescent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForeverAdolescent)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-towers/160925/1 "2003-03-12T20:37:31Z")
I couldn’t find the forum for General Stupid Questions so I decided to try my luck in here. I’m curious about water towers. I’m wondering why the hell they are so tall, if water is actually stored in the mushroomie top, and what happens when all the water is used up…seeing as how I’ve never seen a delivery truck at the base of one. P.S. I’m still kind of an SDMB newbie so if that “general stupid questions” joke has been made before, I apologize. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-towers/160925/2 "2003-03-12T20:40:48Z")
There are pipes that go into the tank, to fill it up, as well as pipes that go out of the tank, to your house. The water comes from various sources, depending our your locale. Some water is pumped from the river, others from underground aquifers, and so on. It’s cleaned, treated, then stored in those big tanks. ---
**Author:** ![ChalkPit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@ChalkPit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChalkPit)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-towers/160925/3 "2003-03-12T20:41:28Z")
WAG: Water is pumped up there to provide water pressure when it leaves again. The higher they are, the greater the water pressure. I think… ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-towers/160925/4 "2003-03-12T20:41:35Z")
[Here ya go.](http://www.howstuffworks.com/water.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-towers/160925/5 "2003-03-12T20:54:16Z")
The general idea is that putting water up above the level it will be used at assures an even flow. Pumps are used to pump it up there from the source (aquifer/well, treatment plant from a river or lake, etc.) – but having pumps that draw water at a rate that fluctuates with usage is more expensive than having ones that pump it up at a constant rate, and then using gravity as the motive force for the normal water pressure – plus, if power’s out (as it is likely to be in a serious fire situation), water flow is uninterrupted – and it also means that there’s a substantial reserve of pure water for the community. ---
**Author:** ![ForeverAdolescent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@ForeverAdolescent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForeverAdolescent)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-towers/160925/6 "2003-03-12T20:55:23Z")
Ahhhh :rolleyes: probably should have known. It makes sense to use gravity for the pressure system rather than some expensive pump. Much appreciated people. Thanks for the link, Chalk…it has it all. ---
**Author:** ![ChalkPit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@ChalkPit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChalkPit)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-towers/160925/7 "2003-03-12T20:56:19Z")
QED had the link, I just had the WAG. ---
**Author:** ![ForeverAdolescent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@ForeverAdolescent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForeverAdolescent)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-towers/160925/8 "2003-03-12T21:03:30Z")
darn Dyslexia, thanks for the WAG just the same…and thank YOU for the link, QED. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-towers/160925/9 "2003-03-12T21:37:52Z")
“I’m wondering why the hell they are so tall, if water is actually stored in the mushroomie top” Cecil addressed those questions here: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_281.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_281.html) ---
**Author:** ![ForeverAdolescent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@ForeverAdolescent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForeverAdolescent)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-towers/160925/10 "2003-03-12T23:13:15Z")
:dubious:Obviously the system works like a charm, but wouldn’t the whole point of building the tower, using gravity instead of pumps, be stepped on by having to build pumps to get the water to the top anyway. I don’t mean to beat a dead horse…I was just built with a small hard drive and very little RAM. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-towers/160925/11 "2003-03-13T00:16:32Z")
From the second page of Q.E.D.'s link: > [@](#): > > One of the big advantages of a water tower is that it lets a municipality size its pumps for average rather than peak demand. That can save a community a lot of money. > > Say that the water consumption for a pumping station averages 500 gallons of water per minute (or 720,000 gallons over the course of a day). There will be times during the day when water consumption is much greater than 500 gallons per minute. For example, in the morning, lots of people wake up at about the same time (say 7:00 a.m.) to go to work. They go to the bathroom, take a shower, brush their teeth, etc. Water demand might peak at 2,000 gallons per minute at 7 a.m. – there is a big cost difference between a 500-gallon-per-minute pump and a 2,000-gallon-per-minute pump. Because of the water tower, the municipality can purchase a 500-gallon-per-minute pump and let the water tower handle the peak demand. At night, when demand normally falls to practically zero, the pump can make up the difference and refill the water tower. ---
**Author:** ![ForeverAdolescent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@ForeverAdolescent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForeverAdolescent)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-towers/160925/12 "2003-03-13T01:39:44Z")
> [@](#): > > From the second page of Q.E.D.'s link: I see it now…I took that last sentence as being the end of their idea and just missed the “Next page link” as bold and underlined as it was. Thanks… Question asked and answered.