How Do Water Towers Work?

It's no surprise that water towers store water, but it's less well known that they also store energy.

The whole process starts at the water treatment plant. After the water is treated, electronically powered mechanical pumps send it through pipes, either to serve an immediate need (think showers, dishwashers and water sprinklers) or to a water tower for storage.

"On a normal day, people are turning on their faucets and flushing their toilets," said Enos Inniss, an assistant teaching professor of civil engineering at the University of Missouri. "The water that people are not using — it has to go somewhere," and that somewhere is the water tower. [The Surprisingly Strange Physics of Water]