In a past life, I was quite involved in the water supply and drainage,
but this puzzles me....

Our village is fed from a water tower, built on a hill. Every few
months our normally good supply pressure drops for several hours, then
comes back to normal - I'm just curious as to why this might happen?

Our electric shower still has enough pressure to work, but at a reduced
flow rate. My best guess is that every so often, they deliberately
allow the stored water in the tower to run down to ensure it is fully
flushed so as to avoid Legionaires or similar. Anyone able to confirm
that they do this sort of thing on a regular basis?

On Mon, 08 Jan 2018 16:01:45 GMT
Harry Bloomfield wrote:

In a past life, I was quite involved in the water supply and
drainage, but this puzzles me....

Our village is fed from a water tower, built on a hill. Every few
months our normally good supply pressure drops for several hours,
then comes back to normal - I'm just curious as to why this might
happen?

Our electric shower still has enough pressure to work, but at a
reduced flow rate. My best guess is that every so often, they
deliberately allow the stored water in the tower to run down to
ensure it is fully flushed so as to avoid Legionaires or similar.
Anyone able to confirm that they do this sort of thing on a regular
basis?

Have you asked the owner of the water tower?

--
Davey.

"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
news
In a past life, I was quite involved in the water supply and drainage, but
this puzzles me....

Our village is fed from a water tower, built on a hill. Every few months
our normally good supply pressure drops for several hours, then comes back
to normal - I'm just curious as to why this might happen?

Our electric shower still has enough pressure to work, but at a reduced
flow rate. My best guess is that every so often, they deliberately allow
the stored water in the tower to run down to ensure it is fully flushed so
as to avoid Legionaires or similar. Anyone able to confirm that they do
this sort of thing on a regular basis?

They certainly don't do it with ours, so that is unlikely.

On 08/01/2018 16:01, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
In a past life, I was quite involved in the water supply and drainage,
but this puzzles me....

Our village is fed from a water tower, built on a hill. Every few months
our normally good supply pressure drops for several hours, then comes
back to normal - I'm just curious as to why this might happen?

Our electric shower still has enough pressure to work, but at a reduced
flow rate. My best guess is that every so often, they deliberately allow
the stored water in the tower to run down to ensure it is fully flushed
so as to avoid Legionaires or similar. Anyone able to confirm that they
do this sort of thing on a regular basis?

It's a sticky ballcock in the tower.

Cheers
--
Clive

Harry Bloomfield wrote:
In a past life, I was quite involved in the water supply and drainage,
but this puzzles me....

Our village is fed from a water tower, built on a hill. Every few
months our normally good supply pressure drops for several hours, then
comes back to normal - I'm just curious as to why this might happen?

Our electric shower still has enough pressure to work, but at a reduced
flow rate. My best guess is that every so often, they deliberately
allow the stored water in the tower to run down to ensure it is fully
flushed so as to avoid Legionaires or similar.

Well whatever else it is, it wont be legionella. Thats a problem for hot
water systems as far as Im aware.

Any major water users in your area? Farmers using irrigation maybe?

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

Tim+ formulated the question :
Any major water users in your area? Farmers using irrigation maybe?

Lots of local farmers, but all seem to have their own sources - streams
and ponds.

To reply to the other suggestions...

It is mostly a static local population and the supply pressure is
always good apart from these rare pressure drops. I cannot see it being
a sticking ballcock - we are at a high spot for several miles around,
so water will need to be pumped up to the tower, so the pumps will be
started and stopped on water level. When they flush the mains, they
write to us to warn us in advance.

It is as if there are two pumps and one gets turned off, or trips out
sometimes.

Don't know I'd have hoped they actually cleaned it as well.
Could there be a leak somewhere that is only noticed when the water table
is low?
Brian

--
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This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
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Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
news
In a past life, I was quite involved in the water supply and drainage, but
this puzzles me....

Our village is fed from a water tower, built on a hill. Every few months
our normally good supply pressure drops for several hours, then comes back
to normal - I'm just curious as to why this might happen?

Our electric shower still has enough pressure to work, but at a reduced
flow rate. My best guess is that every so often, they deliberately allow
the stored water in the tower to run down to ensure it is fully flushed so
as to avoid Legionaires or similar. Anyone able to confirm that they do
this sort of thing on a regular basis?

On Mon, 08 Jan 2018 16:01:45 +0000, Harry Bloomfield wrote:

In a past life, I was quite involved in the water supply and drainage,
but this puzzles me....

Our village is fed from a water tower, built on a hill. Every few months
our normally good supply pressure drops for several hours, then comes
back to normal - I'm just curious as to why this might happen?

Our electric shower still has enough pressure to work, but at a reduced
flow rate. My best guess is that every so often, they deliberately allow
the stored water in the tower to run down to ensure it is fully flushed
so as to avoid Legionaires or similar. Anyone able to confirm that they
do this sort of thing on a regular basis?

Just wondering about the difference in height between the top and bottom
of the water tower, and the bottom of the water tower and your property.

If you are more or less level with the water tower then a difference in
water level might make a difference, but if you were, say, 100 feet lower
than the tower I would have thought any difference would make very little
difference.


Cheers


Dave R


--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

---
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David presented the following explanation :
Just wondering about the difference in height between the top and bottom
of the water tower, and the bottom of the water tower and your property.

If you are more or less level with the water tower then a difference in
water level might make a difference, but if you were, say, 100 feet lower
than the tower I would have thought any difference would make very little
difference.

The tank section of the tower is around 20 feet high, the base of the
tower is (wild guess) around 70 feet higher than our house. So lowering
the level to the bottom of the tank will make little difference to
pressure, however if the water were fed into the tank at a slower rate
that probably would, but thinking about it air would probably be drawn
in and appear from our taps.

Harry Bloomfield wrote
David wrote

Just wondering about the difference in height between the top and bottom
of the water tower, and the bottom of the water tower and your property.

If you are more or less level with the water tower then a difference in
water level might make a difference, but if you were, say, 100 feet lower
than the tower I would have thought any difference would make very little
difference.

The tank section of the tower is around 20 feet high, the base of the
tower is (wild guess) around 70 feet higher than our house. So lowering
the level to the bottom of the tank will make little difference to
pressure,

Correct.

however if the water were fed into the tank at a slower rate that probably
would,

Nope. Much more likely something is restricting
the rate at which the water can get out of the tower
periodically, or the demand changes at times tho
you have previously said the second is unlikely.

but thinking about it air would probably be drawn in and appear from our
taps.

On Mon, 08 Jan 2018 16:01:45 GMT, Harry Bloomfield
wrote:

In a past life, I was quite involved in the water supply and drainage,
but this puzzles me....

Our village is fed from a water tower, built on a hill. Every few
months our normally good supply pressure drops for several hours, then
comes back to normal - I'm just curious as to why this might happen?

Our electric shower still has enough pressure to work, but at a reduced
flow rate. My best guess is that every so often, they deliberately
allow the stored water in the tower to run down to ensure it is fully
flushed so as to avoid Legionaires or similar. Anyone able to confirm
that they do this sort of thing on a regular basis?

We used to have a sever drop in pressure on Saturdays, I don't know
why but I managed to get the local water company to put a data logger
on our supply and after that they did something, presumably to their
control gear, and it is nowhere near as bad as it was, although still
noticeable sometimes.
- Mike