UNDER (WATER) PRESSURE

When most of us envision the New York skyline we think about high-flying skyscrapers. But if you look closely at the horizon, iconic wooden water towers dot the rooftops like thousands of barnacles as far as the eye can see. They look like relics from a bygone era and, in terms of engineering, they are. But a good hot soaking shower in the Big Apple is still completely dependent on them. Why?

That new Dornbracht Sensory Sky you installed would be a lame dribbler without a water tower, because it does one important thing: provide pressure! Most buildings in the city taller than six stories need a tower and pumping system to provide a swift aqua blast to high floor dwellers. Each foot of height provides 0.43 PSI of glorious pressure, so the natural place to stick your building’s water tower is on the roof to take advantage of gravity’s heft. The giant barrel is filled to the brim with glistening H2O and works like a giant toilet. As you brush or flush, the level goes down. A ballcock is triggered and more water is pumped in. We’ve always thought these wood towers were ancient, but most of them don’t last more than 30 years. Even the newest ones have an old look because they’re made of unfinished wood that isn’t painted or chemically treated so as not to taint your revered drinking water. Although steel tanks are an option, they are four times as expensive and have issues heating up and freezing during the extreme months. To that, most city building owners choose wood for their rooftop barrels. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! And, for the love of pressure, thank the humble ballcock next time you decide to splash around with Fido in your white crystal bathtub.