Has reached the low 70s Fahrenheit in Beltsville, so I moved the hose that feeds the cold water manifold for the 4 front loaders from the tempering valve and connected it directly to a cold water faucet.
Tap Cold Water Temperature
- Thread starter tomturbomatic
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Is your tempering valve manual or thermostatically controlled?
[this post was last edited: 6/17/2013-12:35]
The tempering valve is thermostatic, but has a knob for temperature adjustment of the output. At it's lowest setting it supplies 78F water. I think it was originally intended to temper hot water down instead of cold water up, but works both ways. On the body of the valve I installed back-flow valves on both the incoming hot and cold water sides.
I am on county water. Well water that warm would possibly indicate something geothermal going on.
The tap cold temperature will climb to around 80F before it starts falling.
I am on county water. Well water that warm would possibly indicate something geothermal going on.
The tap cold temperature will climb to around 80F before it starts falling.
Cold tap water warming up during the summer-this will happen as water tower tanks are heated by the sun.The Eastern Pines Water Co out my way has lots of water towers.See them outside of town-they are at their water wells.Of course in winter the tower tanks are cooled by the cold weather.
polkanut
Well-known member
About 35 miles south of Wausau is a Del Monte canning factory, and they have their own well with a water tower for more pressure. A few years ago they painted the tower black to aid in heating the water used in the canning process. It has saved them quite a bit in fuel costs for water heating. Very clever.
Minneapolis city water in my neighborhood has finally reached 60 degrees F. At one point this winter it was as low as 38 degrees! Depending on the summer, it could get up to the 75-80 range by late August before it starts sliding back down. For me, 60 degrees is the point where I switch back to cold rinses for the summer.
jerrod6
Well-known member
Tap cold is 73f today. Water comes from the rivers.
Water towers
I wonder what they do in really cold places to keep the water from freezing in the towers. When I was a kid, there was one of those huge water tanks that sat on the ground on a hill next to the church where a friend's father was the pastor. I often wondered how much destruction it would cause if it sprang a big leak. I guess it would wash away everything between it and a good sized creek and then the creekbed itself.
I wonder what they do in really cold places to keep the water from freezing in the towers. When I was a kid, there was one of those huge water tanks that sat on the ground on a hill next to the church where a friend's father was the pastor. I often wondered how much destruction it would cause if it sprang a big leak. I guess it would wash away everything between it and a good sized creek and then the creekbed itself.
whirlcool
Well-known member
Our tap cold water today is 84F. We have a city well, but the water pipes are routed through the attic since we don't have a basement. Makes for very "cool" water in the summertime.
I wonder what they do in really cold places
Tom,
Last I checked Minnesota is pretty cold, although I suppose there are colder places. Around here I'm not aware of anything being done to prevent freezing in the tanks. I think they just rely on lots of continuous turnover to keep the water from freezing. The water does get cold, into the high 30's F, but that is a ways from freezing.
The attached photo is one of the city water tanks. I maintain a number of antennas on the top of this tank for a local radio club. A few years back they were doing painting and maintenance on this tank and I was able to walk around inside the tank. It is merely a big steel drum welded up from ~3/8" steel plates. Its about 100 feet high and holds roughly a million gallons. There is no insulation or anything on the tank. Its neat to be able to witness the water level in the humid summer months. There is clear condensation on the sides of the tank up to the water level, much like an LP tank on a propane grill.
Tom,
Last I checked Minnesota is pretty cold, although I suppose there are colder places. Around here I'm not aware of anything being done to prevent freezing in the tanks. I think they just rely on lots of continuous turnover to keep the water from freezing. The water does get cold, into the high 30's F, but that is a ways from freezing.
The attached photo is one of the city water tanks. I maintain a number of antennas on the top of this tank for a local radio club. A few years back they were doing painting and maintenance on this tank and I was able to walk around inside the tank. It is merely a big steel drum welded up from ~3/8" steel plates. Its about 100 feet high and holds roughly a million gallons. There is no insulation or anything on the tank. Its neat to be able to witness the water level in the humid summer months. There is clear condensation on the sides of the tank up to the water level, much like an LP tank on a propane grill.
Thank you all.
Phil, do they have any tanks that are way up in the air with long pipes under them or are they all like the one you showed? I remember a National Geographic or PBS show about life in a village in Siberia and there was a man whose job it was to keep a furnace burning all winter to melt snow for water. He delivered water to the residents of the village. I think they depended on a spring or well during the warmer months. Maybe larger cities have more infrastructure, but it would seem that pipes would have to be buried pretty deep to prevent freezing unless they ran all of the cold water supply through the nuclear plant to heat it before it went into the distributions system. Maybe they do both. I know of some towns in Maine where there are water systems for the summer cabins. Those lines are drained in the fall. Year-round residents have private wells.
Glenn, I can see that your summer water heating bills would be very low with "cold" water that warm. Is it too warm to be able to use heat recovery systems on central air condensing units or are you not a candidate anyway since you do not have a storage type water heater? If your water gets any hotter in the summer, you would almost have to let it cool for a bath. Speaking of warm water, how are the kidney stone fragments moving?
Last spring our temperatures started warming up in March and our tap cold water got warmer earlier than this year.
Phil, do they have any tanks that are way up in the air with long pipes under them or are they all like the one you showed? I remember a National Geographic or PBS show about life in a village in Siberia and there was a man whose job it was to keep a furnace burning all winter to melt snow for water. He delivered water to the residents of the village. I think they depended on a spring or well during the warmer months. Maybe larger cities have more infrastructure, but it would seem that pipes would have to be buried pretty deep to prevent freezing unless they ran all of the cold water supply through the nuclear plant to heat it before it went into the distributions system. Maybe they do both. I know of some towns in Maine where there are water systems for the summer cabins. Those lines are drained in the fall. Year-round residents have private wells.
Glenn, I can see that your summer water heating bills would be very low with "cold" water that warm. Is it too warm to be able to use heat recovery systems on central air condensing units or are you not a candidate anyway since you do not have a storage type water heater? If your water gets any hotter in the summer, you would almost have to let it cool for a bath. Speaking of warm water, how are the kidney stone fragments moving?
Last spring our temperatures started warming up in March and our tap cold water got warmer earlier than this year.
Tom, We do have other forms of elevated water storage tanks here in MN. You will find the classic four leg tanks as well as the more modern "Golf Ball on Tee" style as well. It depends on where they are and to some degree when they were built.
Our city tanks, of which there are three, all all the style of the one in my photo. Burnsville has some high ridges in its topography and the tanks are all on the high points. A ground mounted tank like these hold the most volume of water for the least cost but they must be placed at a high relative elevation to provide adequate water pressure. The high mounted tank styles are used in areas that are typically flat as they elevate the bulk of the water storage to provide higher pressure. The rule to remember is that 1 psi is developed for every increase in ~2 feet of elevation.
Of note, especially for this thread, our city now has one below ground holding tank also. Of course this would be helpful in avoiding freezing. I'm not sure if that tank empties directly to the users, or if it is just holding that is then pumped up into one of the above ground tanks for delivery.
Next time I chat with someone from the water department I will have to ask what the in tank temperatures are in Winter and if they ever have any freezing. I would imagine that its likely that the water temperature at my house in Winter is higher then the temperature in the tanks. The water quite likely warms slightly as it moves through the underground distribution mains etc.
Our city tanks, of which there are three, all all the style of the one in my photo. Burnsville has some high ridges in its topography and the tanks are all on the high points. A ground mounted tank like these hold the most volume of water for the least cost but they must be placed at a high relative elevation to provide adequate water pressure. The high mounted tank styles are used in areas that are typically flat as they elevate the bulk of the water storage to provide higher pressure. The rule to remember is that 1 psi is developed for every increase in ~2 feet of elevation.
Of note, especially for this thread, our city now has one below ground holding tank also. Of course this would be helpful in avoiding freezing. I'm not sure if that tank empties directly to the users, or if it is just holding that is then pumped up into one of the above ground tanks for delivery.
Next time I chat with someone from the water department I will have to ask what the in tank temperatures are in Winter and if they ever have any freezing. I would imagine that its likely that the water temperature at my house in Winter is higher then the temperature in the tanks. The water quite likely warms slightly as it moves through the underground distribution mains etc.
Tap cold in Beltsville now is about 77F.
there is
a lot of heat energy in a million gallons of water, that alone would stave off freezing in the tank. Funny I never thought about it. I'll have to check ours. 72 degrees today
a lot of heat energy in a million gallons of water, that alone would stave off freezing in the tank. Funny I never thought about it. I'll have to check ours. 72 degrees today
Jon, I was thinking more of the water in the pipes going between the ground and the bottom of the exposed tank and the possibility of it freezing during night hours of little usage and prolonged extremely cold temperatures, but I guess those things have been figured out by engineers and others with good brains. The way the climate is going, it will probably become less and less of a concern.
Have any disaster movies showed water tanks rupturing? That would make for a dramatic special effect.
Have any disaster movies showed water tanks rupturing? That would make for a dramatic special effect.
The tap water in Chicago heats up as the lake heats up. I live in a building with a rooftop tank, but that doesn't seem to heat up too much, since water doesn't linger in that too long. I hear that Boston, despite using reservoir water, has cold tap water, perhaps traveling through tunnels cools it off?
Seems I've seen a movie with failing water tanks, can't remember what it was though, definitely a "B" movie or less though.
Seems I've seen a movie with failing water tanks, can't remember what it was though, definitely a "B" movie or less though.
