Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Water Tower shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Water Tower offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Water Tower at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Water Tower? Wrong! If the Water Tower is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Water Tower then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Water Tower? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Water Tower and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Water Tower wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Water Tower then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Water Tower site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Water Tower, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Water Tower, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
was the first modern water tower in the world
A
water tower or
elevated water tank is a very large tank constructed for the purpose of holding a supply of water at a height sufficient to pressurize a water supply system. Many water towers were constructed during the
industrial revolution and some of these are now considered architecture landmarks and monuments and may not be demolished. Some are converted to apartments or exclusive
penthouse apartments.
In certain areas, such as New York City, smaller water towers are constructed for individual buildings.
Construction
A typical water tower is constructed of steel,
reinforced concrete or
prestressed concrete or
bricks. It is usually sphere or
Cylinder (geometry) and is approximately 50 foot (unit of length) (16 metres) in diameter. It typically has a height of approximately 120 feet (40 metres).
Purpose
water tower is a local landmark, water towers are very common around London suburbsThe users of the water supply (a town, factory, or just a building) need to have water pressure to maintain the safety of the water supply. If a water supply is not pressurized sufficiently, several things can happen:
- Water may not reach the upper floors of a building;
- Water may not spray from a tap (valve) with sufficient Rate of fluid flow
- Without a water tower, parts of gravity flow water supply systems in hilly areas may be subject to negative pressures (see siphon). Negative pressure in the system may cause shallow groundwater to be suction into a leaky water supply system, polluting it with microorganisms, dirt, sand, fertilizers, and any other toxic contaminants that may be in the groundwater;
- The water towers supply water even during power cuts because they use gravity to pressurize the water pipes in people's homes, although it cannot supply water for a long time without electricity because electricity is needed to pump water up into the tower.
- A further purpose is that a water tower serves as a reservoir to help with water needs during peak usage times. The water level in the tower typically falls during the peak usage hours of the day, and then pumps fill it back up during the night. This process also keeps the water from freezing in cold weather, since it is constantly being used and refilled.
Operation
]The height of the tower provides the
Fluid statics#Hydrostatic pressure for the water supply system, and it may be supplemented with a
pump. The volume of the
reservoir (water) and diameter of the piping provide and sustain flow rate. However, relying on a pump to provide pressure is expensive; to keep up with varying demand, the pump would have to provide a constantly varying output pressure (and thus need an expensive control system) and it would have to be sized sufficiently to give the same pressure at high flow rates.
Very high flow rates are needed when fighting fires. With a water tower present, pumps can be sized for average demand, not peak demand; the tower can provide water pressure during the day and the pumps can refill the water tower at night when demand is very low.
Decoration
functioned as the town's water tower until 1923.Water towers can be surrounded by ornate coverings including fancy
brickwork, a large
ivy-covered Trellis (agriculture) or it can be simply painted. Some city water towers had the name of the city painted in large letters on the roof, as a navigational aid to
aviators. Sometimes the decoration can be humorous, as
Granger, Iowa has two water towers, labeled HOT and COLD. The
The House in the Clouds in Thorpeness was built to resemble a house in order to disguise the eyesore, whilst the lower floors were used for accommodation. When the town was connected to the mains water supply, the tank was dismantled and converted to additional living space.
Sapp Bros. truck stops uses a water tower with a handle and spout -- looking like a coffee pot -- as the company logo. Many of their facilities have thus-decorated actual water towers (presumably non-functional) on-site.
The first and original "Mushroom" -- Svampen in Swedish -- was built in
Örebro in
Sweden in the early 1950s and later copies were built around the world including Saudi-Arabia and Kuwait.
Uses today
,
Finland was built in the 1970s. It is 52 metres high and can hold around 12,000 m³ of water.Water towers are very common in
India, where the electricity supply is erratic in most places. Water tanks are used atop houses and multi-story houses to store water from erratic supplies.
In many countries, water towers have been taken out of the water supply system and replaced by pumps alone. Water towers are often regarded to be the monuments of
civil engineering. Some are rejuvenated and converted to serve modern purposes. A good example of the latter is
Wieża Ciśnień in
Wroclaw, Poland.
Railway use
All railways making use of steam locomotives require a means of replenishing the locomotive's water tank. This is most commonly achieved by means of a water tower feeding one or more water cranes, usually located at stations and locomotive sheds.
Further uses
Some water towers are also used as observation towers. There are even water towers with restaurants, such as the
Goldbergturm in Sindelfingen, Germany. It is also common to use water towers as the location of Transmission (telecommunications) mechanisms in the Ultra high frequency range with small power, for instance for closed rural broadcasting service, portable radio, or cellular telephone service.
New York City
skyline
In the 1800s,
New York City required that all buildings higher than 6 stories be equipped with a rooftop water tower. This was necessary to prevent the need for excessively high pressures at lower elevations, which could burst pipes. In modern times, the towers have become fashionable in some circles.
As of 2006, the neighborhood of
Tribeca requires water towers on all buildings, whether or not they are being used. Two companies in New York build water towers, both of which are family businesses in operation since the 1800s."Wondering About Water Towers" by Debbie Elliott.
All Things Considered, 2 Dec 2006. National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6567297 (includes pictures)The original water tower builders were barrel makers who expanded their craft to meet a modern need as buildings in the city grew taller in height. Even today, no sealant is used to hold the water in. Tank walls are held together with cables but leak through every gap when first filled. As the wood swells, the gaps close and become impermeable.
The rooftop tanks store 5,000 to 10,000 gallons of water until it is needed in the building below. The upper portion of water is skimmed off the top for everyday use while the water in the bottom of the tank is held in reserve to fight fire. When the water drops below a certain level, a pump is triggered and the tank is refilled.
Famous towers
Famous water towers in the USA include:
- Chicago Water Tower
- Volunteer Park Water Tower, Capitol Hill, Seattle, Washington
- Warner Bros. Studios Water Tower, Burbank, California (In the animated TV series Animaniacs, it was used to incarcerate the characters Yakko, Wakko, and Dot.
- Peachoid next to I-85 on the edge of Gaffney, South Carolina
- Earful Tower at Disney-MGM Studios
- Florence Y'all Water Tower in Florence, Kentucky
- Union Water Sphere in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey
Famous water towers in the UK include:
Famous water towers in Sweden include:
See also
References
External links
- Michigan Water Towers Group (photos) on Flickr
- Images of Hungarian water towers
- Images of Canadian water towers and standpipes
- HowStuffWorks.com on Water Towers
- Photographs of different kinds of water towers in Finland
- World's Largest Catsup Bottle Website
- International Watertower Archive
- German Watertower Archive
- Watertowers of Bucharest, Romania
- Bernd and Hilla Becher: Water Towers, ISBN 0-262-02277-X (photographic book)
- American Steel and Iron Institute list of water towers
- Gerard Tank& Steel, water tower fabricators & erectors
- World's Tallest Water Sphere - Fan site for the Union (NJ) Water Sphere
Gallery
Image:First Shukhov Tower Nizhny Novgorod 1896.jpg|Water tower by Vladimir Shukhov - the world's first hyperboloid structure, Russia,
1896Image:Grandview.JPG] in
Hampton, Virginia.Image:Kimberley Water Tower, Nottinghamshire.JPG], UK.Image:ChateauDeauAmericainSaintParizeLeChatel.jpg|Water tower at Saint-Parize-Le-Chatel, France.Image:Collinsville_watertower.jpg|Unique water tower in the shape of a ketchup bottle, Collinsville, Illinois (This is also the world's largest ketchup bottle.)Image:Colmar-watertower.jpg],
France.Image:Water tower - Gödöllő.jpg], HertfordshireImage:GaffneySCPeachoidAtNight.jpg] water tower in Gaffney, South Carolina, United States, built in 1981Image:Kuwaittowers.jpg|The
Kuwait Towers in Kuwait City, built in 1979Image:NicolletWaterTowers.jpg].
was the first modern water tower in the world
A
water tower or
elevated water tank is a very large tank constructed for the purpose of holding a supply of water at a height sufficient to pressurize a water supply system. Many water towers were constructed during the
industrial revolution and some of these are now considered
architecture landmarks and monuments and may not be demolished. Some are converted to apartments or exclusive penthouse apartments.
In certain areas, such as
New York City, smaller water towers are constructed for individual buildings.
Construction
A typical water tower is constructed of steel, reinforced concrete or
prestressed concrete or
bricks. It is usually sphere or Cylinder (geometry) and is approximately 50
foot (unit of length) (16 metres) in diameter. It typically has a height of approximately 120 feet (40 metres).
Purpose
water tower is a local landmark, water towers are very common around London suburbsThe users of the water supply (a town, factory, or just a building) need to have water pressure to maintain the safety of the water supply. If a water supply is not pressurized sufficiently, several things can happen:
- Water may not reach the upper floors of a building;
- Water may not spray from a tap (valve) with sufficient Rate of fluid flow
- Without a water tower, parts of gravity flow water supply systems in hilly areas may be subject to negative pressures (see siphon). Negative pressure in the system may cause shallow groundwater to be suction into a leaky water supply system, polluting it with microorganisms, dirt, sand, fertilizers, and any other toxic contaminants that may be in the groundwater;
- The water towers supply water even during power cuts because they use gravity to pressurize the water pipes in people's homes, although it cannot supply water for a long time without electricity because electricity is needed to pump water up into the tower.
- A further purpose is that a water tower serves as a reservoir to help with water needs during peak usage times. The water level in the tower typically falls during the peak usage hours of the day, and then pumps fill it back up during the night. This process also keeps the water from freezing in cold weather, since it is constantly being used and refilled.
Operation
]The height of the tower provides the
Fluid statics#Hydrostatic pressure for the water supply system, and it may be supplemented with a pump. The volume of the
reservoir (water) and diameter of the piping provide and sustain flow rate. However, relying on a pump to provide pressure is expensive; to keep up with varying demand, the pump would have to provide a constantly varying output pressure (and thus need an expensive control system) and it would have to be sized sufficiently to give the same pressure at high flow rates.
Very high flow rates are needed when fighting fires. With a water tower present, pumps can be sized for average demand, not peak demand; the tower can provide water pressure during the day and the pumps can refill the water tower at night when demand is very low.
Decoration
functioned as the town's water tower until 1923.Water towers can be surrounded by ornate coverings including fancy brickwork, a large ivy-covered Trellis (agriculture) or it can be simply painted. Some city water towers had the name of the city painted in large letters on the roof, as a
navigational aid to
aviators. Sometimes the decoration can be humorous, as
Granger, Iowa has two water towers, labeled HOT and COLD. The
The House in the Clouds in
Thorpeness was built to resemble a house in order to disguise the eyesore, whilst the lower floors were used for accommodation. When the town was connected to the mains water supply, the tank was dismantled and converted to additional living space.
Sapp Bros. truck stops uses a water tower with a handle and spout -- looking like a coffee pot -- as the company logo. Many of their facilities have thus-decorated actual water towers (presumably non-functional) on-site.
The first and original "Mushroom" -- Svampen in Swedish -- was built in Örebro in Sweden in the early 1950s and later copies were built around the world including Saudi-Arabia and Kuwait.
Uses today
,
Finland was built in the
1970s. It is 52 metres high and can hold around 12,000 m³ of water.Water towers are very common in
India, where the electricity supply is erratic in most places.
Water tanks are used atop houses and multi-story houses to store water from erratic supplies.
In many countries, water towers have been taken out of the water supply system and replaced by pumps alone. Water towers are often regarded to be the monuments of civil engineering. Some are rejuvenated and converted to serve modern purposes. A good example of the latter is Wieża Ciśnień in Wroclaw,
Poland.
Railway use
All railways making use of
steam locomotives require a means of replenishing the locomotive's water tank. This is most commonly achieved by means of a water tower feeding one or more
water cranes, usually located at stations and locomotive sheds.
Further uses
Some water towers are also used as observation towers. There are even water towers with restaurants, such as the Goldbergturm in Sindelfingen,
Germany. It is also common to use water towers as the location of
Transmission (telecommunications) mechanisms in the Ultra high frequency range with small power, for instance for closed rural broadcasting service, portable radio, or cellular telephone service.
New York City
skyline
In the 1800s,
New York City required that all buildings higher than 6 stories be equipped with a rooftop water tower. This was necessary to prevent the need for excessively high pressures at lower elevations, which could burst pipes. In modern times, the towers have become fashionable in some circles. As of 2006, the neighborhood of Tribeca requires water towers on all buildings, whether or not they are being used. Two companies in New York build water towers, both of which are
family businesses in operation since the 1800s."Wondering About Water Towers" by Debbie Elliott.
All Things Considered, 2 Dec 2006.
National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6567297 (includes pictures)The original water tower builders were barrel makers who expanded their craft to meet a modern need as buildings in the city grew taller in height. Even today, no sealant is used to hold the water in. Tank walls are held together with cables but leak through every gap when first filled. As the wood swells, the gaps close and become impermeable.
The rooftop tanks store 5,000 to 10,000 gallons of water until it is needed in the building below. The upper portion of water is skimmed off the top for everyday use while the water in the bottom of the tank is held in reserve to fight fire. When the water drops below a certain level, a pump is triggered and the tank is refilled.
Famous towers
Famous water towers in the USA include:
- Chicago Water Tower
- Volunteer Park Water Tower, Capitol Hill, Seattle, Washington
- Warner Bros. Studios Water Tower, Burbank, California (In the animated TV series Animaniacs, it was used to incarcerate the characters Yakko, Wakko, and Dot.
- Peachoid next to I-85 on the edge of Gaffney, South Carolina
- Earful Tower at Disney-MGM Studios
- Florence Y'all Water Tower in Florence, Kentucky
- Union Water Sphere in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey
Famous water towers in the UK include:
- Dock Tower in Grimsby
- 'House in the Clouds' in Thorpeness, Suffolk
- Jumbo Water Tower in Colchester, Essex
Famous water towers in Sweden include:
See also
References
External links
- Michigan Water Towers Group (photos) on Flickr
- Images of Hungarian water towers
- Images of Canadian water towers and standpipes
- HowStuffWorks.com on Water Towers
- Photographs of different kinds of water towers in Finland
- World's Largest Catsup Bottle Website
- International Watertower Archive
- German Watertower Archive
- Watertowers of Bucharest, Romania
- Bernd and Hilla Becher: Water Towers, ISBN 0-262-02277-X (photographic book)
- American Steel and Iron Institute list of water towers
- Gerard Tank& Steel, water tower fabricators & erectors
- World's Tallest Water Sphere - Fan site for the Union (NJ) Water Sphere
Gallery
Image:First Shukhov Tower Nizhny Novgorod 1896.jpg|Water tower by Vladimir Shukhov - the world's first
hyperboloid structure, Russia, 1896Image:Grandview.JPG] in
Hampton, Virginia.Image:Kimberley Water Tower, Nottinghamshire.JPG], UK.Image:ChateauDeauAmericainSaintParizeLeChatel.jpg|Water tower at Saint-Parize-Le-Chatel, France.Image:Collinsville_watertower.jpg|Unique water tower in the shape of a ketchup bottle, Collinsville, Illinois (This is also the world's largest ketchup bottle.)Image:Colmar-watertower.jpg], France.Image:Water tower - Gödöllő.jpg], HertfordshireImage:GaffneySCPeachoidAtNight.jpg] water tower in Gaffney, South Carolina, United States, built in 1981Image:Kuwaittowers.jpg|The
Kuwait Towers in Kuwait City, built in 1979Image:NicolletWaterTowers.jpg].
National Trust Cottages (The Water Tower)
National Trust Cottages, A unique collection of over 320 properties in outstanding locations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Lymm Water Tower - the art of housebuilding
The development of a Victorian listed stone-built water tower into a sublime essay in contemporary architecture, accompanied by a television series and newspaper features.
Water Towers of East Anglia
Nat Bocking If you are interested in water towers, you should join the British Water Tower Appreciation Society. BWTAS promotes the appreciation of water towers for their artistic ...
Water tower - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A water tower, watershed, or elevated water tower is a very large elevated tower. Constructed for the purpose of holding a supply of water at a height sufficient to pressurize a ...
Chicago Water Tower - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Chicago Water Tower is a contributing property in the Old Chicago Water Tower District landmark district. It is located at 806 North Michigan Avenue along the Magnificent Mile ...
Everton Water Tower at Night
Everton Water Tower at Night
Tower Hamlets - Environment - Water quality
Web site of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets ... Water quality. Our aim is to maintain the air, land and water in the borough to the highest possible quality.
Amersham: The Water Tower | 4Homes | Channel4.com
Grand Designs showcases a stunning self build project - a converted water tower with lots of glass and a futuristic design ethos. Kevin McCloud oversaw this contemporary renovation ...
Mursley Water Tower
An historic article about an aircraft crashing into the tower killing 4 crew during WW11.
Welcome to Croydon Online - Heritage (Park Hill Water Tower)
History Section ... Park Hill Recreation Ground, Park Hill Water Tower. Built 1867. This extremely prominent building located in Park Hill Recreation Ground can be seen all over ...
