Don't Get Neil Tyson Started on Water Towers

0:00- So I dig water towers.

0:02- Don't get me started on water towers.

0:03- Oh really?

0:05- Don't even.

0:06- You like water towers too?

0:07Or-- - I'm--

0:08- Please, I don't wanna feel alone in this.

0:09(laughing)

0:11Please say yes.

0:12(bright music)

0:16- So when you talk about water towers,

0:18- Yes.

0:19- You have to be specific.

0:20Because if you live in New York City,

0:21- Right. - Water tower

0:22means only one thing, and that's the vessel

0:25that holds water on the top of your building.

0:26But most people I think, when they hear water tower,

0:30they think of the water tower that's in

0:31the center of their town.

0:32- [Interviewer] That's true.

0:33- And if you came at the right time, in twilight,

0:36and you're not quite fully there,

0:39it looks like, they all almost look like

0:41they landed from Mars.

0:42- Right.

0:43- Aliens comin' down.

0:44In fact, during the broadcast of "War of the Worlds"

0:49there are people thinking it's real

0:50and they were described as having these,

0:52you know, and so people were shooting water towers.

0:54(whooshing) (clinking)

0:55- [Interviewer] Shooting water towers.

0:56- Yeah, thinking that was what was being described.

0:58Anyhow, so--

1:00- Kinda cool, actually.

1:01(laughing)

1:03- Water towers are interesting because

1:04it gives you water pressure

1:07without electricity, provided it's full of water.

1:10- Right.

1:11- All right? But how do you get the water up there?

1:12You gotta pump it.

1:14Water doesn't get there by itself.

1:15- Okay, now--

1:16- How you gonna get water up to the top of your roof?

1:18You gotta pump it.

1:19That takes electricity.

1:20So here's what happens.

1:21You pump the water up to the tower.

1:22Oop, now that's a blackout.

1:25You still have water until that tank empties.

1:28- Right.

1:29- Then you don't have water.

1:30- 'Cause you have gravity.

1:31As long as you have gravity--

1:32- As long as you have, well, gravity to pull the water

1:34from-- - To pull the water from--

1:35the tower. - Then you have it.

1:36- Right.

1:37- So basically, if the electricity goes out,

1:39quickly fill up everything with water.

1:42And then it'll be gone and then you could,

1:44you don't have to be stank, you know, the next day.

1:46- So now here's the interesting question.

1:48If you gotta pump the water up to the tower,

1:50- Right.

1:51- Why not just pump the water straight

1:53to the people's apartments in the building?

1:55- Oh, 'cause they might not need it in that moment.

1:57Plus, you want enough water at any given instant

2:01(water trickling)

2:02to accommodate-- - To everybody.

2:03- [Neil] If everybody wants to take a shower,

2:04they can do it.

2:05- [Interviewer] Right, because all the water is right

2:07in this one tank. - Right in that one thing.

2:08But if you, therefore, everybody would have to have

2:10a pump, and what's the point of that?

2:12- [Interviewer] Right.

2:13- Right, right.

2:13So it has that efficiency, okay?

2:15- See, I like water towers even more now.

2:16- Now here's another thing.

2:17Have you ever noticed the buckles that go around

2:20the water tower that holds theme together?

2:21- Yes, they're like little metal rods that go

2:23all the way round. - The metal rods.

2:24Yeah, have you ever noticed those?

2:25- Yes I have.

2:26- Have you ever thought about them?

2:27- Uh, not really.

2:28- Let's split the water tower into three levels, right?

2:31- Okay. - Top, middle and bottom.

2:32- Okay, that would be a good three.

2:34- So you can ask, what is the weight of the water

2:37of that top third?

2:39It's whatever it is, okay? - Right.

2:41- [Neil] Call it 500 pounds.

2:42- [Interviewer] 500 pounds.

2:44- [Neil] So now I put a little buckle around that.

2:45- [Interviewer] Right.

2:47- [Neil] Okay? Right at that spot.

2:47Let me go to the bottom of that.

2:51Now what is the weight of water at that point?

2:53Well, it's the top part-- - It's 500,

2:55- Plus 500 - Plus 500.

2:56- It's 1000 pounds. - It's 1000 pounds.

2:58- Well if-- - Plus the 500 at the bottom

3:00pushin' up. - I didn't get there yet.

3:01I didn't get there yet. - Sorry.

3:02- [Neil] So if one of these hoops is

3:06the right strength to hold 500 pounds,

3:09- [Interviewer] Right.

3:10- [Neil] Then that one, I need more than one hoop

3:12to hold it down here.

3:14- [Interviewer] Right, yeah.

3:15- [Neil] I need two.

3:15- [Interviewer] Right.

3:16- [Neil] If one can hold 500 and two will hold the thousand.

3:18Now I'm at the bottom.

3:19(water gurgling)

3:20I have 500 plus 500, I got 1500 pounds

3:22pressin' down the bottom.

3:23- [Interviewer] Right.

3:24- [Neil] I need three of those hoops.

3:26- [Interviewer] Gotcha.

3:26- Okay?

3:27Go look at the water towers on the tops of buildings.

3:31The hoops get closer and closer together--

3:33- Closer and closer as you get to the bottom.

3:34- As you get to the bottom.

3:35Just because of this fact, the water gets heavy.

3:39- Nice.

3:40That is more than you ever wanted to know about water.

3:42- I know, it is, it is so too much.

3:44(laughing)

3:45- And it's so cool as far as I'm concerned.

3:46- If they're equally spaced, the person didn't know

3:48what they were doing and you should not

3:49move into that building.

3:50Because the base of the water tower would not be

3:53as structurally sound as the upper portions,

3:55and that's, you know, that's where the stuff goes bad.

3:57- You better have flood insurance if that happens.

3:59(laughing)

4:00Wow, that is so cool.

4:01Water towers. - Water towers.

4:02A little bit of physics.

4:03- A little bit of physics.

4:04- A little bit electricity.

4:05- It's all happenin'.

4:06- Oh, one last thing, one last thing.

4:07- Oh, cool.

4:08- If a building in Manhattan is lower than

4:10about six stories, it doesn't need a water tower.

4:13- All right.

4:15Hm, because, wait, let me guess.

4:18Because you can get the water to every apartment

4:21just through the regular pressure of a pump?

4:23- Yes, no, it's not a pump.

4:24- Not a pump.

4:25- It's the height of the reservoir that's

4:27feeding Manhattan has that elevation above Manhattan.

4:31- [Interviewer] Gotcha. So the pressure

4:33is already there. - So the water falls.

4:35The water falls from the reservoir

4:38into your faucet. - Into your faucet.

4:40- Over that height.

4:42And you know something?

4:43The ancient Romans knew that.

4:44The aqueducts. - Aqueducts were

4:45built on that.

4:47- Aqueducts, some of which,

4:49pieces of which are still standing,

4:50- [Interviewer] Yeah.

4:51- Was a channel that fed a lake,

4:54or whatever was their water supply,

4:56which was at a higher elevation than Rome.

4:58And they scoop up that water and the water

5:00just goes down all by itself. - By itself.

5:02- No pump necessary.

5:03- Boy, they don't build those aqueducts

5:05like they used to.

5:06- I know, and it's still standing.

5:06- Yep. - We got stuff

5:07here fallin' down that built 10 years ago.

5:09And that's up for 2000 years.

5:10- God dag.

5:12- That just meant the mayor

5:14- Of Rome. - Of Rome.

5:16Spent too much money building it.

5:17(laughing)

5:18If your structures outlive your civilization

5:20by 2000 years?

5:21- Yeah.

5:22- You overbuilt.

5:23- You probably overbuilt.

5:24That's very funny.

5:25All right, there you go.

5:26Who knew there was so much to learn

5:27about water towers?

5:28So next time I wash my hands, I'm gonna remember

5:30how far that water had to travel

5:31into my building.

5:32Yes, right.

5:33By the way, I never wash my hands.

5:36Okay, if you're interested in learning more

5:38about hydrostatic pressure,

5:39why our everyday appliances are constructed

5:42in certain ways, or how we use gravity

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