WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Water Towers

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<v Speaker 1>Hi, and welcome to the short Stuff. I'm Josh. Chuck's

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<v Speaker 1>here too. Jerry's hanging around out there, just kind of loitering,

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<v Speaker 1>smoking cigarettes with her leather jacket on being a bad kid.

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<v Speaker 1>And this makes the stuff you should know. Don't ruin

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<v Speaker 1>the illusion, Chuck, I know. Uh So this is about

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<v Speaker 1>water towers and we need to shout out a very

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<v Speaker 1>special person. This is not only from our old how

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Works website that we used to write for, but

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<v Speaker 1>the very founder. His name is Marshall Brain. That's his

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<v Speaker 1>real name, and he created How Stuffworks so many years

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<v Speaker 1>ago and technically is why we have a job doing

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<v Speaker 1>what we do today. So hats off to you, Marshall,

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<v Speaker 1>because he used to write everything himself. And this is

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<v Speaker 1>one of the kind of the good old Marshall Brain articles.

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<v Speaker 1>This is a Marshall Brain special water towers. Um. That

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<v Speaker 1>was very Marshal Brain kind of like, hey, how does

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<v Speaker 1>that air condition to work? Me tell you? I think

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<v Speaker 1>he wrote how a condishers working his kitchen in North

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<v Speaker 1>Carolina years ago for so. UM. One of the things

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<v Speaker 1>that Marshall points out, and we're on a first name

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<v Speaker 1>basis with them, don't worry, um, is that you very

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<v Speaker 1>rarely run into a water failure, like as a utility

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<v Speaker 1>goes the pressure of water. Now, something might have happened

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<v Speaker 1>and it maybe brown, it may have lead in it. True.

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<v Speaker 1>His point is is that your water pressure is pretty

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<v Speaker 1>reliable as far as utilities go. Yeah, like get a blackout,

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<v Speaker 1>get internet outage, all that kind of stuff happens. But

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<v Speaker 1>if you ever go and turn your fascel on and

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<v Speaker 1>nothing comes out, then there's something really bad has happened. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>there's probably like a break in a water main and

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<v Speaker 1>that's why it lost pressure. And at that point, pressure

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<v Speaker 1>is like the least of your warries. Right. But what

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<v Speaker 1>we have to thank for all of this, And we

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<v Speaker 1>had people recently right in about this suggesting this as

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<v Speaker 1>a topic. I don't know if you took a name down,

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<v Speaker 1>did you? I'm looking now? Sorry sorry, uh listener if

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<v Speaker 1>we don't get your name. But people suggested water towers.

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<v Speaker 1>But we have water towers to thank for this. And

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<v Speaker 1>it's a very simple thing. If you drive through a

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<v Speaker 1>town and you look up and you see a big,

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<v Speaker 1>giant water tower, it may be painted to look like

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<v Speaker 1>something cool, like like a Georgia peach or or a

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<v Speaker 1>walnut Georgia peach or a buttocks perspective, or it may not,

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<v Speaker 1>or it may just have the town's name, or it

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<v Speaker 1>may have nothing on it. But in that tower is

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<v Speaker 1>water about five i'm sorry, about fifty times as much water.

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<v Speaker 1>And this is a generalization as you might find in

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<v Speaker 1>a backyard swimming pool. And that water is very tall

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<v Speaker 1>because it needs to be tall because it uses gravity

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<v Speaker 1>to make that water pressure happen. And that water tower

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<v Speaker 1>helps spell the water pump that sends water through your town. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's really really simple because it's just a huge

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<v Speaker 1>giant water tank and because it's elevated, it can use

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<v Speaker 1>gravity to pressurize that water. Right, it gets it going

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<v Speaker 1>when it starts to drop, and that's it. Like, that's

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<v Speaker 1>a water tower. There's nothing special about it aside from

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<v Speaker 1>its height or that it looks like a peach. It's

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<v Speaker 1>a really really simple idea, but it's also a really

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<v Speaker 1>ingenious idea that really really works because no pump is needed.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you do have a power outage in your

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<v Speaker 1>whole town, that's why you still have water pressure. And

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<v Speaker 1>because of the amount of water in it, they usually

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<v Speaker 1>can cover the amount of time it will take to

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<v Speaker 1>get those pumps back online, so you never are out

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<v Speaker 1>of water. Yeah. I think in the idea that there's

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<v Speaker 1>enough water in the tower to cover the town for

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<v Speaker 1>like a day. Yes, And I mean I would guess

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<v Speaker 1>you could probably deal unless it was a major natural disaster.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's say it was a routine problem with electricity or

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<v Speaker 1>the pumps or something like that. Yeah, I guess you

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<v Speaker 1>could probably deal with just about any problem you get

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<v Speaker 1>the pumps going within a day. Um. Again, I think Jackson, Mississippi,

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<v Speaker 1>just found out that you can go many days without

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<v Speaker 1>water pressure at all if you have a bad enough

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<v Speaker 1>natural disaster with the floods that they had. But I

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<v Speaker 1>think under normal circumstances, if you have a water tower,

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<v Speaker 1>it's got a day's worth of water and most of

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<v Speaker 1>the time it's going to cover you. Yeah, that's the idea. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>let's talk a little bit about these statistics or this math,

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<v Speaker 1>because Marshall was kind enough to do the math many

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<v Speaker 1>years ago. Uh. Every foot of height for a water

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<v Speaker 1>tower provides point to four three pounds per square inch

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<v Speaker 1>of pressure. Uh. He says a municipal water supply will

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<v Speaker 1>run between fifty p s. I so you're gonna have

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<v Speaker 1>to have. You know, it's very simple math. You do

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<v Speaker 1>the math to figure out how big tall tall your

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<v Speaker 1>tower needs to be, along with how much water you're

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<v Speaker 1>gonna need, and bing bang boom, you build it. You're

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<v Speaker 1>filled up with water and you're done. Right. Um. I

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<v Speaker 1>saw that the average um uh p s I that

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<v Speaker 1>comes out of a faucet and the house is between

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<v Speaker 1>forty and forty five and sixties the backs. So if

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<v Speaker 1>you're on completely if your town is totally flat at

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<v Speaker 1>sea level, um, you would need to have between a

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<v Speaker 1>ninety three and a hundred and four foot water tower

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<v Speaker 1>to to achieve those pressures of forty or a hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and forty foot water tower to hit that sixty. Al Right,

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<v Speaker 1>it makes sense. It's probably wrong because I did the math,

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<v Speaker 1>but you know, I say, we take a break. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>gonna go over my work again. All right, we'll be

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<v Speaker 1>right back. So, Chuck, like you said, of water towers,

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<v Speaker 1>pretty big. Um, it can have a million and a

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<v Speaker 1>half gallons. I'm guessing if you've got a town that's

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<v Speaker 1>flushed with I don't know, local casino money or something

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<v Speaker 1>like that, you probably have one that holds even more

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<v Speaker 1>water than that. There's a lot of toilets flushing in

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<v Speaker 1>the casino right well, and that brings up this point,

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<v Speaker 1>right that it actually lets your your city save on

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<v Speaker 1>the size of the pumps they buy for their water

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<v Speaker 1>supply because your your city does have pumps under normal circumstances,

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<v Speaker 1>that's how water initially gets pressurized from the treatment plant

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<v Speaker 1>to begin with. But because there's such things as water towers,

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<v Speaker 1>they can cover things like peak demand so that you

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<v Speaker 1>only have to buy pumps. They can handle the average

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<v Speaker 1>amount of demand right right, So in the morning, when

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<v Speaker 1>everyone's taking showers and uh, they're having their morning constitutional, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>there's gonna be a lot of water are pumping through

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<v Speaker 1>the system, and that's when they rely on that water

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<v Speaker 1>tower to spell the pumps. When demand is less, those

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<v Speaker 1>that water tower is going to fill back up. The

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<v Speaker 1>pump is gonna say, all right, we don't need as

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<v Speaker 1>much water, so we're gonna give some back to you

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<v Speaker 1>and you hold onto it until we need it tomorrow morning.

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<v Speaker 1>And it's just sort of a beautiful little cycle. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>And um, the reason or the way that that happens

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<v Speaker 1>is the way that the water system is configured. So

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<v Speaker 1>you've got the water treatment plant shooting out water to

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<v Speaker 1>the pump station, which pressurizes the water initially, and then

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<v Speaker 1>that from out of the pump station goes to the

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<v Speaker 1>you know, people's houses. But right after the pump station, say,

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<v Speaker 1>you will have the water tower connected and water goes

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<v Speaker 1>in or out depending on demand. So when there's so

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<v Speaker 1>much demand that the pump can't handle it, the water

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<v Speaker 1>just starts to naturally come out of the water tower

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<v Speaker 1>to supplement it. And then when there's an excess of

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<v Speaker 1>it of um pressure from the pumps, that's when the

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<v Speaker 1>water tower gets filled back up. And if there's neither,

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<v Speaker 1>this is a little known fact your town's water tower

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<v Speaker 1>will explode in a thermonuclear explosion and take your entire

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<v Speaker 1>town out. Really, I don't think so. There's only one

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<v Speaker 1>way to find out. If you've ever been to New

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<v Speaker 1>York City. Say it New York City. If you've ever

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<v Speaker 1>been there and you've looked out of your hotel room

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<v Speaker 1>and seeing, uh, those big water tanks on top of

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<v Speaker 1>all those buildings, and just thought, man, you never really

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<v Speaker 1>notice those until you notice them, and they are everywhere.

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<v Speaker 1>That's because New York is a city of tall buildings,

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<v Speaker 1>and a lot of those buildings, uh, they don't even

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<v Speaker 1>have to be that tall to exceed that what your

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<v Speaker 1>water pressure can handle, like to get water up to

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<v Speaker 1>the top floors of those apartments and offices and things.

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<v Speaker 1>So all those buildings have their own little water tanks

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<v Speaker 1>sitting up there on top, and it does the same

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<v Speaker 1>thing that those water town wars do in the small

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<v Speaker 1>towns that you drive through. Yeah, it's pretty neat. It's

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<v Speaker 1>so New York too, very New York. We got I've

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<v Speaker 1>got my own take up there. A lot of those

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<v Speaker 1>buildings too, will have a lot of pumps uh themselves,

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<v Speaker 1>not just water towers, but also pumping systems too. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>especially ones that are, you know, flushed with casino money,

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<v Speaker 1>or buildings in New York that are known for lots

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<v Speaker 1>of pooping. Sure, which is there's a lot of buildings

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<v Speaker 1>in New York known for that. Yeah, we won't mention

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<v Speaker 1>any though. The only murders in the building building that's

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<v Speaker 1>a big pooping building. I love that show. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>great show, for sure, it is. Did you finish up

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<v Speaker 1>this last season? No, I'm still in the middle of it.

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<v Speaker 1>Actually I I started and then I was like, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>already out of episodes. On episode three, so I was

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<v Speaker 1>waiting for the rest and I think it finished right. Yeah, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it's all out. We watched it. It's a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>fun and just reaffirms that. But don't tell me, don't

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<v Speaker 1>tell me the funniest tell me ever live. Man. I

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<v Speaker 1>love that guy. You just spoiled it. Martin. Short's funny

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<v Speaker 1>in the rest of the season. God, he's so funny.

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<v Speaker 1>So there's one last thing about water towers, Charles, that

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<v Speaker 1>I think we should talk about. Um that they will

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<v Speaker 1>save you money on your fire insurance for your house. Huh, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I think that is the case because, uh, you've got

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<v Speaker 1>to have, you know, a lot of water pressure on

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<v Speaker 1>demand if something is on fire, and that water tower

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<v Speaker 1>is going to guarantee that if there's a fire, you're

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<v Speaker 1>not going to run out of water pressure to put

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<v Speaker 1>that fire out. So you're gonna get your fire insurance

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<v Speaker 1>rates determined by the fact that you have a great

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<v Speaker 1>water system and water tower. Fantastic. And before we go,

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<v Speaker 1>we should shout out some of the people who rode

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<v Speaker 1>into request and water towers. There's so many of them

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<v Speaker 1>we cannot name them all. But starting all the way

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<v Speaker 1>back in two thousand nineteen with Lila Craig all the

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<v Speaker 1>way to two weeks ago with Magan Stall and thank

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<v Speaker 1>everyone in between. Yeah, and everyone in between. That's right. Uh.

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<v Speaker 1>And since we just thanked a bunch of people that

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<v Speaker 1>you've not met yet, that means short Stuff is out.

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff you should Know is a production of I Heart Radio.

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