this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2024
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Explain Like I'm Five

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How can there be functioning bathrooms in high rises? (self.explainlikeimfive)
submitted 5 months ago by krowbear to c/explainlikeimfive
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It seems like such a huge amount of water and would require so much energy to get it that high, plus there's the waste to deal with

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago

Toilet waste (black) water pipes are quite underused for their diameter so it's enough to just feed dozens of bathrooms' worth into a reasonable diameter you can still get at a hardware store. Sure, some will have trouble flushing if they all do that at the same time but not too serious.

As for drinking water, some high-rises feature tanks as part of their oscillation damping system anyway, and municipal water towers don't need to be placed much higher than customers to get decent pressure. I think it's not the amount but pressure of water at the ground floor that causes engineering challenges. The pumps and tank at the top help, though.