Trenton Water Works has six water towers throughout our system. In order to regulate and maintain pressure and water levels throughout a system, water towers are used to store treated water and manage flow. One pipe typically controls both the intake and outtake from the storage area. Since storage tanks are used to regulate pressure and flow throughout a water system, pipes will direct water into the tanks when the system has lower demand, and thus extra water, and will open up to add water to the system at other times. To ensure tanks do not become over-full, water tanks have an overflow pipe that will drain water from a storage tank and deposit it on the ground or in the surrounding area if a tank is too full.
Elevated water tanks must be at least 80 feet off the ground to help with system pressure. No actual water is stored the trunk of a typical elevated water tank, and water only passes through when flowing into or out of the tank. Instead, the interior houses access ladders, control valves and pipes, the inlet and outlet pipe, and more. Cylindrical storage tanks that do not have an open interior and are completely filled with water do not count as elevated storage until the water reaches 80 feet.