Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Empowering you to understand your world
Water tank beside a tree

Do Water Tanks Alleviate Or Exacerbate Water Shortages?

Short answer: Both.

As someone who lived with a rationed water supply for many years, i’m no stranger to water tanks. As water shortages intensified, water tanks became a common sight. That led me to think: Water tanks fill whenever the water supply is turned back on, and seamlessly take over and provide running water when it’s turned back off.

Water tank beside a tree
Water tank.
Image obtained with thanks from Michael Zimmer via Flickr.

This is very convenient and helpful if you’re conserving water, but it detracts from the benefit of rationing. Rationing is supposed to prevent you from getting water at certain times so that the reserves (usually a dam) don’t run out. The problem that water tanks introduce is: They simply take longer to fill up when water is being rationed, so they may end up taking just as much water from dwindling reservoirs.

On the other hand, tanks could be considered a (one-way) extension of municipal water reservoirs. They are privately owned and won’t contribute water back to the water supply. However, this is helpful if municipal dams are not large enough to collect the water necessary to supply everyone.

Share this article
Shareable URL
Prev Post

New COTSBot Robot Can Hunt And Kill Certain Starfish

Next Post

Top 4 Most Efficient New Crossovers

Leave a Reply

Read next
Subscribe to our newsletter
Get notified when new content is published