What a leaking 10,000 gallon water tank looks like
If you are from NYC, you certainly know what this is, a roof top water tank! Most of the tanks are used for domestic water, but some also serve the fire suppression system in a building.
People often wonder how they are constructed so here it is!
These tanks do not have any waterproofing in it. Instead the wood plys are simply stacked in a circular form and then held together with steel bands. Once water is introduced, the wood swells and creates a water tight seal.
When winter comes around, the boards undergo temperature shrinkage and they begin to slowly leak. If we have a long duration of cold, the leaks eventually form this strange looking feature! The water inside never really freezes because new water is continuously pumped into the tank while the old water is sent out to feed the apartments below.
By the way, we are replacing that steel frame!
Dope form in the frozen falling water.
I was working on a project where large volumes of water were flowing out of an 'improperly' connected pipe, directly onto the roof. The intended connection was missing, allowing water to get below the waterproofing. No bueno. I'll upload a video.
I would love to see the video! dtube that shit!
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This is quite primitive, but engineering principle that gave birth to it is cool.
it is EXTREMELY primitive. Its kind of ridiculous, but if it works, don't fix it.
Probably a lot cheaper than a steel tank. Not really familiar with potable water requirements, but I wouldn't have guessed that this would be part of that system!
Many woods are mold resistant naturally. I'm not sure what type of wood is used in water tanks but they are cleaned every so often and are cheap to build and install. A steel tank would require cranes and lifting equipment and seals for temperature shrinkage. These wood tanks are still built today. In fact I've seen many bring replaced with exactlybthe same systems.
The water inside never really freezes but the outside does, wow I've not seen this type of thing before. Thanks for sharing. I like your blog post. I'll follow you right away. Thanks
The tank leaked so unique, due to the freezing
Great informative post, thanks for sharing :)
Engineering is an occupation as well as art. Excellent work. Looks like to be seen. Thanks @motoengineer for sharing the wonderful blog.
Erm...... Engineering is majorly application of science, and partly an art.
:) Yes. You are right.
it looks pretty cool but I would not stand underneath it ^^
What the...? Looks crazy dude! And interesting how all this works, was wondering at first, just looked at the photo and though maybe hes explaining it in the text :D