WOODCARVING & ACCESSORIES

Water Tanks And Why You Need Them

Others will say they look like friendly little people with cone hats. Other people will find them so ugly that they build brick walls to hide them. When we talk about making, installing and fixing the ubiquitous brown tanks with their cone shaped tops these two businesses are in the top of their game competing for the most recognition.

They like the fact that in an age of computers, skyscrapers and synthetics, most New Yorkers get their water via a wooden barrel on the roof. Even this one gentleman who runs the company with his 32 year old brother and their mother said that when he tells people the tanks are wood, they don’t believe it. More often then not people say that those tanks look like they are made out of steel or Plexiglas. Get further information from concrete water tanks about water tanks and more.

Sometimes water tanks can be made of steel. A US steel maker’s Manhattan headquarters even gets water from wooden tanks. The durability of tanks is often questioned. The gentleman replied, too long that they just replaced a tank that his father had put up in 1926.

The popularity of wooden tanks have spread in Chicago, Philadelphia and elsewhere, but only in New York, with its great density of tall apartment buildings, are they fixtures on the landscape. You can’t have a skyline without the tanks. But for water to be available on top floors any time a faucet turns on, the pumps must run constantly.

Rooftop tanks are more efficient. It is also good to note that electrical pumps kick in only when the water in the barrel drops below a certain level. You have to keep in mind that by law, buildings that are 80 feet or taller must have the tanks, for firefighting reasons. The purpose of it is Water from the tank is often used to keep flames from reaching passages out of a burning building while firefighters arrive. If you like this water tanks article check out underground water tank for more top quality information.

Tanks always have two hookups, the one for drinking water, located at mid-tank, and the one for firefighting, located at the bottom of the tank. The usual make up of these tanks are from redwood or cedar staves cut to size in the factory, assembled on the roof and encircled by galvanized iron hoops.

When the hoops are pressing in and the water pressing out, it makes it watertight. Usually an average tank holds 10,000 gallons, stands 12 feet high and is mounted on a steel structure 20 feet high.

This way tanks will work on a windy day dangerous and often impossible. Currently these tanks are made at a factory in Philadelphia, about two hours from its offices on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. With the two companies, one handles nearly all the city’s water tanks.

Oftentimes, people ask whether this company is related to their competitor. Their versions might be different but both agree that their products are aesthetically pleasing. Sadly, this one yuppie that lives on the Upper East Side, who just bought his apartment, claims he doesn’t want to see a water tank when he looks outside.
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