| ▲ | gorfian_robot 6 hours 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. |
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| ▲ | macNchz 5 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| 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. |
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| ▲ | MrZander 5 hours ago | parent [-] | | Also, water towers. As long as the power isn't out long enough to deplete the tower. |
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| ▲ | larkost 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| 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. |
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| ▲ | fhdkweig 5 hours ago | parent [-] | | Do you lose water in the whole building, or just those apartments above the water-line? | | |
| ▲ | jaggederest an hour ago | parent | next [-] | | 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 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | 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. |
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| ▲ | duomo 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| The LA water system is dependent on power as a whole. There’s many pumping stations along the various aqueducts. |
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| ▲ | tjwebbnorfolk 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| We do not lose water on the east coast when the power goes out |
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| ▲ | devilbunny 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| 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. |
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| ▲ | kenhwang 5 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | LA definitely treats the water. Both the surface water before consumption (I'd be surprised if any city doesn't do this) and the wastewater, for reclamation for nonportable use like irrigation, and for recycling back into the general clean water supply. The aqueduct water is specifically purified by the Los Angeles Aqueduct Filtration Plant. That plant is gravity fed, but it doesn't operate without power. LA just has the advantage of having mountains in the city, so it's cheaper building more elevated water storage so the capacity lasts longer during power interruptions (which are also not as common or extended as they are in the east). They will still eventually run out if they're not replenished by powered pumps. | |
| ▲ | simtel20 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Where did you get that idea about NYC water being untreated? NYC treats its water. Chlorine is added if and when needed. Testing stations exist to evaluate water quality all around the boroughs, etc. You can't have a city of millions of people and have the water be potable from the tap without testing and treatment | | | |
| ▲ | mikestew 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | I know NYC doesn't treat their water at all… EDIT: I'm a dork an grabbed the wrong URL. Changed URL to a PDF for lack of better. A major metro doesn’t treat its tap water? Where on earth did you get that crazy idea? <old URL deleted> https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dep/downloads/pdf/water/drinking-... I'll save some digging:
"Even without filtration, the water is carefully treated to reduce the risk of harmful microorganisms." | | |
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| ▲ | UltraSane an hour ago | parent | prev [-] |
| Odd. Most places use water towers to provide water pressure and have backup generators for the pumps that fill them. |
