Water Towers And Pressure Reservoirs

installations in a water-supply system that regulate the pres-sure and flow of water in a water-main network, provide a water reserve, and equalize the operating schedule of pumping stations. The water towers consist of a water tank (reservoir), usually cylindrical, and a supporting structure (base). A water tower provides regulation by accumulating the excess water supplied by a pumping station during periods of reduced water consumption and delivering it during periods of high consumption.

The height of a water tower (the distance from the ground to the bottom of the tank) is usually no more than 25 m (in rare cases, 30 m); the tank capacity varies from several dozen cu m for small water mains to several thousand cu m for large urban and industrial water mains. The supporting structures are built mainly of steel, reinforced concrete, and sometimes brick; the tanks are mostly made of reinforced concrete and steel. The towers are equipped with pipes for the inflow and outflow of water, overflow devices to avoid overfilling the tank, and a water-level measuring system that telemeters signals to a control station. A pressure reservoir, unlike a water tower, has no supporting structure but is located on a high point of a locality. In some cases the reservoirs are used to store fire-fighting and emergency water reserves. Pressure reservoirs in modern water-supply systems are generally made of reinforced (including prestressed) concrete.