Hi everyone. Today, in an agricultural landscape, I noticed lots of water tower. What is the exact use for this and why this has to be up in the air? Maybe my question is stupid but it's the first time I am asking myself about it ;)
They provide hydrostatic water pressure at meaningful volume without having to coordinate pumps with demand flow.
A comparatively small volume of water at high elevation pressurizes everything below it; getting a large volume at high elevation explains the shape of many modern towers.
Pumps cannot maintain pressure well or move water fast enough in services where it is desired to move a lot of water quickly. So, water is pumped at whatever quantity/rate a pump can into a storage tank that is up in the air. Then when water is desired to be delivered somewhere you can open a valve and it will gravity flow out at a relatively constant rate and pressure. The tank can be refilled over time at a lower rate than the usage and the pressure at the output will be uniform all the time.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
SV's post also hints at why you see different sized water towers (standpipes is a more official name). A small town won't need the reserve a large city requires.
Water towers are also a function of the topography. In hilly areas, there may be an in-ground tank atop one of the hills, so you won't see a water tower at all. On the plains, they'll be everywhere.
One PSI requires a water column of just over 28". So if the desired pressure is 40 PSI at a given point on the system, the standpipe will need to be something over 100' tall. This point will likely be around the widest part of an onion shaped tower, or the middle of an elevated cylindrical tank. The size of the pipe leading up to the tank is governed by the desired flow.
Something we in the fire service have to watch out for with small water systems is the fact that we can over-run the system's capabilities during a large fire event. Most systems will sustain large fire flows for only a couple of hours.
Railroad water towers don't need to generate pressure - they're more interested in how quickly they can get water into the tender. They were often filled by some trickle from a nearby stream, or perhaps a windmill driving a pump. Even five gallons a minute adds up.
I read of one tower on a logging railroad that was kept filled by a Rife Hydraulic Ram - a fascinating device in and of itself. They are self powered by the flowing water, and can lift water ten times the head that is driving them.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
I grew up in a small town in Upcountry South Carolina, and the city water system made use of a tank (I have no idea as to its capacity) about forty feet above the ground. Some towns used what seemed to be a large standpipe (I saw them from a distance).
In 1948 I spent a few days on a farm near Ronceverte, West Virginia (ome of my brothers was marrying the daughter of the owner). At that time, the water for the house came from a ram that was some distance away.
Johnny
RailroadXplorer (2-17):
Perhaps I’m a bit dense, but your new thread confuses me, as I’m not sure what you are referring to. This is a railroad forum, but yet you mention agriculture. Water towers that I am most familiar with are old abandoned steam engine watering towers …
Red Rock, AZ, September 30, 2016
… and municipality water towers by railroad tracks.
Eloy, AZ, August 5, 2008
Could you set me straight on what you are inquiring about?
Oh, by the way, you are rather new here. Welcome to the forum, and great having you among us!
Best,
K.P.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K.P.’s absolute “theorem” from early, early childhood that he has seen over and over and over again: Those that CAUSE a problem in the first place will act the most violently if questioned or exposed.
My old home of Newton, KS has a city ground level tank next to the BNSF La Junta Sub mainline. It holds 3.6 million gallons of ready-to-use water. Prior to being built in 1938 the land on the site was owned by SF. The city bought the trac of land. Today the structure is in horible shape. One can tell the tank leaks bad. Likely in very bad shape on the inside. City keeps putting off repair work. Tank was last drained, inspected, cleaned and painted in 1997.
It might be interesting to note that there is one old railroad water tank that is still standing, here in Kansas.
In 1885, the SL-SF RR built a 50,000 gal wooden water tank; on the line that ran East from Wichita, via Augusta,Beaumont, Sedan, and Independence,to Baxter Springs, and into Carthage, Mo.,area. This tank is on the National Register of Historic Places. This line was 'lffted' [in stages] sarting in the late 1960's.
Photo of tank, linked @ http://photos.legendsofamerica.com/ks-railroad/h1EE2594F#h1ee2594f
The Beaumont tank actually was on the Wichita-Monnet line of Frisco. The Beaumont Hotel, next to the tower, is worth a stop. Good home cooking. We would like to spend a night there sometime. In the cafe, there are several rr items displayed including a story manuscript of the rr @ Beaumont written by yours truly.
Water towers also exist in the urban enviornment where multi-story buildings have the need to maintain adequate water pressure for both the users and for fire fighting. Yesterday (2/17) Discover Channel had a Dirty Jobs marathon - one of the episodes followed a crew in New York City the disassembled and rebuilt a water tower on top of a building.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Here is a water tank that is set in the ground.
https://www.bing.com/maps?cp=40.789063%7c-111.871463&style=h&lvl=18&v=1
You may have to scroll up to see the tank.
I don't know if my water comes from there now, but when I lived on 18th Avenue (SW corner of of Hilltop and 18th Avenue), my water came from there.
The A&WP RR built an ~ 10,000 gal concrete water tank. It had a hydralic ram that worked off a small creek. Even today that creek seems to always have some flow. The tank is still in place on the CSX line although the fill spout is long gone, It has a padlocked lower room unused now by the RR.
Apartment buildings in New York City all seem to have wooden water towers on the roof. They look just the same as the water towers that railroads used. I saw a new one at a summer camp in Sullivan county, N.Y. and it was leaking. The guy said that they all do that until the wood swells and seals it up. Building them is a trade that won't die, I suppose.
K. P. Harrier RailroadXplorer (2-17): Perhaps I’m a bit dense, but your new thread confuses me, as I’m not sure what you are referring to. This is a railroad forum, but yet you mention agriculture. Water towers that I am most familiar with are old abandoned steam engine watering towers … Red Rock, AZ, September 30, 2016 … and municipality water towers by railroad tracks. Eloy, AZ, August 5, 2008 Could you set me straight on what you are inquiring about? Oh, by the way, you are rather new here. Welcome to the forum, and great having you among us! Best, K.P.
In Iowa, at least, rural water districts have been formed. Instead of using individual wells, people on farms and acerages (and industrial users, too) can hook up to the water district's lines. This has led to municpal style water towers to pop up out in the middle of rural areas.
This is a local water district in my area. http://www.xeniawater.org/about-us.aspx
Jeff
RailroadXplorerWow, thanks everyone for all the infos. I was talking mostly about city water tank but I tought there were more railroad water tank than only one.
There are plenty of railroad water tanks around. Wooden versions that weren't specifically being maintained are probably long gone, but steel and concrete types can still be found.
Remsen, NY:
Deshler still has it's B&O water tower and resivouirs.
stay safe
Joe
Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").
At the end of the steam locomotive era, Southern Pacific donated many of theirs to the local communities, including the one pictured at Red Rock in K.P.'s post and the one in Maricopa that shows up in many photos of the Amtrak station there.
John Timm
tree68 There are plenty of railroad water tanks around. Wooden versions that weren't specifically being maintained are probably long gone
There are plenty of railroad water tanks around. Wooden versions that weren't specifically being maintained are probably long gone
Indeed, wood structures do not last long when left to the elements.
We have one of the few remaining wooden tanks in Western Canada, it is enclosed and contains a coal stove to keep the water from freezing in winter. It was originally located at Gibbons, AB, a few miles north of the Museum site:
More photos from its most recent restoration job:
https://barryc53.weebly.com/gibbons-water-tank.html
Only a few like it are left. It is no longer useable (the wooden tank and support beams have dried out and weakened with time, and it would not be watertight or safe) but is still an impressive structure.
The entire structure also has a slight twist, from being struck by the remnants of the 1987 Edmonton Tornado, which ended its destructive, fatal run just south of the Museum site.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
Cranbrook, B.C. has preserved its CPR wood water tank, also enclosed in a wood shed although of a somewhat different design than the ex-Gibbons CN example. It was moved across the tracks from its original location to the museum grounds.
If you are ever around a railroad bookstore, railroad museum library or fishing around on Amazon, look for CRRM's Colorado Rail Annual #31 (Bill Reich, 2012), Colorado Railroad Water Tanks which inventories every railroad water tank site in the state and does a good job of explaining the various types, right up to the steel Horton tanks that seem to be everywhere.
Remsen tank pictured is a standard Horton tank.
The covered water tower at Fraser, BC on the WP&Y appears to be a multipurpose building adjacent to the depot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraser,_British_Columbia#/media/File:Fraser_Depot_WPY.jpg
In Florence, Italy is a concrete water tower in the main station, also there are water columns at the ends of the platforms. I was in Italy in 2004 and it seemed like the infrastructure of steam was still in existence everywhere. There was also a 2-6-2 near Florence that must have used for excursions, it sure didn't look like a derelict. I wish I had pictures, but no.
to K.P. for that photo of the Red Rock, AZ water tank. Someday I hope to get out that way again and get some more photos of it. I believe - but am not certain - it's now the town's water tank, as there aren't any others around.
- PDN.
Thanks everyone for your help. Very appreciated :)
One thing as yet unmentioned here is that wooden tanks were encircled by steel tension rings (exactly akin to barrel hoops) to hold the vertical staves together against the water pressure. The pressure was minimal at the top of the tower so fewer rings were needed there. But the ring spacing decreased toward the bottom of the tank where the pressure was higher. You can see this spacing progression in historical RR photos from the era of steam locomotives.
LehighLad One thing as yet unmentioned here is that wooden tanks were encircled by steel tension rings (exactly akin to barrel hoops) to hold the vertical staves together against the water pressure. The pressure was minimal at the top of the tower so fewer rings were needed there. But the ring spacing decreased toward the bottom of the tank where the pressure was higher. You can see this spacing progression in historical RR photos from the era of steam locomotives.
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