← Back to context

Comment by gorfian_robot

3 days ago

Being from LA, I am used to a water system that works without needing power. I think most of CA is like that. It was a surprise to lose the water back east when the power went out during a storm.

26 comments

gorfian_robot

Reply
macNchz  3 days ago

The only places I've heard of losing water during power outages are houses that use a private well (no power, no well pump), which would be the case anywhere. Municipal water systems may or may not use power to provide pressure, but are going to have generator power outside of the most severe outages.

  • MrZander  3 days ago

    Also, water towers. As long as the power isn't out long enough to deplete the tower.

  • mono442  3 days ago

    Apartment buildings often have pumps to increase pressure in the basement. Without power, the higher floors lose water.

larkost  3 days ago

I wonder if this was in an apartment building. We owned a condo in a 5 story (4+1) apartment building and because it was taller than the San Jose water system was built for, our building needed (electric) pumps to provide water pressure to the building (there were tanks on the roof). If we lost power, then we lost water.

Now that we have moved to a 2 floor detached home (also in San Jose) we do not have that issue, and everything is gravity fed.

  • fhdkweig  3 days ago

    Do you lose water in the whole building, or just those apartments above the water-line?

    • jaggederest  3 days ago

      Usually these relatively low height kinds of top-tank systems lose water for the entire apartment building, because there's one pump to raise the water to the tank, which then passively provides the pressure (usually through pressure regulators at each floor if I remember right).

      Larger buildings tend to have multiple independent systems

    • larkost  3 days ago

      We happened to live on the top floor, so I don't have personal experience for the lower floors, but the communication on the (non official) group chat for the building always hinted that any water outages (we had a few non-power issues with the pumps as well) applied to to the whole building. But thinking back that could be an unfounded assumption.

duomo  3 days ago

The LA water system is dependent on power as a whole. There’s many pumping stations along the various aqueducts.

  • labcomputer  3 days ago

    Some of the aqueducts that deliver some of the water to LA do rely on pumping. But, the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which is the subject of this post, does not. The LA Aqueduct is entirely gravity driven, and under normal circumstances it is sufficient to supply LA's water needs.

    Another nitpick is that California's various aqueducts are net producers of electricity (i.e., after accounting for pumping), so, while some of them do rely on electricity, they do not require an external source of power to operate.

tjwebbnorfolk  3 days ago

We do not lose water on the east coast when the power goes out

  • Spooky23  3 days ago

    It depends where you are. Most cities in the Northeast you are correct. But coastal areas, big swaths of New Jersey and Long Island IIRC are definitely dependent on power. Towns with water towers usually pump it from the ground.

    Alot of suburbs that can't or won't hook into city supplies will sometimes need more active measures to filter their water as well.

    Sanitary sewers are heavily dependent on power.

UltraSane  3 days ago

Odd. Most places use water towers to provide water pressure and have backup generators for the pumps that fill them.

devilbunny  3 days ago

I know NYC doesn't treat their water at all, but LA doesn't either?

My city runs on surface water, so we have treatment and then pump to storage tanks. You would have to be out for quite a while to run the city out of water, though - the tanks are large.