4 ms·
Maybe this could be applied to water towers? That's a lot of potential energy just sitting there.
by rpmisms 5y ago
Maybe this could be applied to water towers? That's a lot of potential energy just sitting there.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- dharmab 5y agoWater towers are already used that way- water is pumped in during off-peak time and used during peak time.
- mikepurvis 5y agoRight, but that's about maintaining pressure and supply when everyone wants a shower at the same time in the morning, not about harvesting the energy of it all flowing downhill.
- ClumsyPilot 5y agoPressure is energy
- bigiain 5y agoNope. Energy is force times distance. You need to know more than just pressure to calculate energy. (A bicycle tire at 120psi has a lot less energy than a truck tire at 90psi.)
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- cobaltoxide 5y agoNot enough volume. And you have to maintain water in the tower in order to keep the water distribution system pressurized.
- sigstoat 5y agopumped storage systems are so large as to be geographic features. there isn't much energy in a water tower. and that water is already doing work, pressurizing the water system.
- Guvante 5y agoSo I did the math and the average water tower holds something like 1/2 kWh worth of power. (50m tall, storage of 1m gallons, efficiency of 90%) Hydro power storage is fantastic but needs truly ridiculous amounts of water and height deltas to make sense.
- avalys 5y agoYou’re telling me I could fill a typical water tower in 1 hour with a 500 W pump running off a kitchen outlet?
- rightbyte 5y agoReally good sanity check concept!
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago500W is a lot, it is hypothetically enough to move 10 liters of water 50 meters up every second. A motor on a cycle an electric bike is 250w. A kitchen tap provides like what, 0.2 liters per second?
- bigiain 5y agoSo in an hour that's 36000L of water pumped up into the hypotheticals 1 million gallon tank. Right on the three orders of magnitude short that a previous commenter pointed out.
- ClumsyPilot 5y agoSounds like they confused W and kW then?
- Guvante 5y agoCalculator said 400W for 1000L/s and my mental sanity check missed the duration units and thought 400W can move a ton of water.
- twobitshifter 5y agoBefore electricity there were many household appliances that operated on water pressure.
- mr_toad 5y agoWater wheels were used in industry for over two thousand years.