A housing development is served by a water tower with the water level maintained

Question

 A housing development is served by a water tower with the water level maintained between 20 and 30 meters above the ground, depending on demand and water availability. Responding to a resident's complaint about the low flow rate of water at his kitchen sink, a representative of the developer came and measured the water pressure at the tap above the kitchen sink and at the junction between the water main (a pipe connected to the bottom of the water tower) and the feed pipe to the house. The junction is 5 m below the level of the kitchen tap. All water valves in the house were turned off.  (a) If the water level in the tower was 25 m above tap level, what should be the gauge pressures (kPa) at the tap and junction? (b) Suppose the pressure measurement at the tap was lower than your estimate in part (a), but the measurement at the junction was as predicted. State a possible explanation. (c) If pressure measurements corresponded to the predictions in part (a), what else could be responsible for the low water flow to the sink? 

Explanation / Answer

(a) Gauge pressure = H*D*g

where D= density of water

g=9.8 m/s^2

H=25m

=> gauge pressure= 245000 pa = 245Kpa

(b) actual formula is given by

  Pabs=Patmos+DgH

so, the changes in calculated value and measured value is due to atmospheric pressure

(c) Other reason for low water flow to the sink can be leackage or damage in pipeline

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