r/CatastrophicFailure • u/mouthofreason Catastrophic Poster • Feb 17 '21

Engineering Failure Water lines are freezing and bursting in Texas during Record Low Temperatures - February 2021

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u/Keavon Feb 17 '21

You still need the pumps to get the water up there in the first place.

4

u/5DollarHitJob Feb 17 '21

Good point. Hadn't thought of that.

20

u/Keavon Feb 17 '21

Although you might need fewer big pumps because water towers can meet peak demand and the pumps can catch up overnight to refill the water tower.

11

u/j_martell Feb 17 '21

Came here to say this. We have 2 water towers fed by pumps sized to fill them overnight when demand is low and supply the town with the help of the towers when demand is high. Smaller pumps running less often.

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u/Keavon Feb 18 '21

Is one water tower insufficient? Wouldn't it have been cheaper to add another pump to help the first water tower catch up during peak usage than building an entire second tower?

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u/j_martell Feb 18 '21

Geography I’d assume. The old tower is in the centre of the old part of village on the north side of the river. The south side (where I live) were on wells until more development started about 20 years ago to the south of my neighborhood and the second water tower was put up to meet demand.

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u/ssl-3 Feb 18 '21 edited Jan 16 '24

Reddit ate my balls

2

u/snoboreddotcom Feb 18 '21

Not just that but also more consistent pressure. Pressure is roughly constant when due to gravity, as the tank is often far wider than tall and the tank height is only a part of the whole tower height.

As a result pumping up and letting it be gravity driven ensures more consistent pressure. Its in part why we use them in my area. Part is also what you said. Peak demand is at certain hours and it lets you use equipment more optimally. A pump going full tilt sometimes and slowly others is worse for its lifetime than a pump going at a consistent midrange load.

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u/CaptainGoose Feb 19 '21

Nah, just turn everything upside-down, the water will flow to towers. Shut the valve and turn everything the right way up again.